


Against the Current

by Jessiechaos



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Family, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, Civil War Team Captain America, Comfort/Angst, Cute, Daddy Issues, F/M, Falling In Love, Hydra (Marvel), Jealousy, Major Original Character(s), Marriage, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Protective Steve Rogers, Protectiveness, Smut, Steve Rogers Feels, Trust Issues, Wakanda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-05-28 00:38:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 52,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15036845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jessiechaos/pseuds/Jessiechaos
Summary: Trying to mop up Hydra after the events of Age of Ultron, Steve finds more then what he was expecting.This is a story that follows enhanced individual as she joins up with the Avengers.





	1. First Meeting

-One month after Sokovia - (Avengers: Age of Ultron)

There was an explosion off in the distance. The Hydra agents looked at each other.

 _"They found us,"_ one of the agents said to the head researcher. He smiled at that, feeling that he had already won this battle, despite the fact The Avengers were attacking the base. They would never see her coming.

 _"Release her,"_ he told the agents in German. They nodded before leaving.

 _"Do you think she's ready to face off with them?"_ someone asked him.

 _"She will be if she knows what's good for her,"_ he said with a cold smile.

\-----------------

"So much for the element of surprise," Steve Rodgers said looking over the rubble of the outpost that had just blown up.

"We knew this wasn't gonna be a walk in the park," Natasha Romanoff said as they made their way to the compound.

"Yes but we didn't need to announce our presence as soon as we made it to the gate," he said, fighting off some Hydra agents, attacking the group with his shield.

"Yes, but this is more fun, wouldn't you say, Cap?" They all heard over the coms. Tony Stark swept in, taking some out with his repulsor beam.

"Let's just get the job done," Steve said. The three of them slowly made their way to the compound, taking care of agents along the way. They made their way to the entrance only to find it barricaded shut.

"Stark," Steve said.

"Got it," he said, sending a missile to the door, blasting it off its hinges. To everyone's shock, they heard a very feminine scream come from inside the now open compound. Steve looked to his team before slowly walking inside, passed the rubble and found a young woman sitting on the ground, looking scared at what happened. This was not what he expected.

Steve looked her over, her strawberry blonde hair messy, scattered down her back. She was dressed in only a t-shirt and shorts, leaving nothing to the imagination. She was petite but muscular, someone who might give Natasha a run for her money, if she wasn't cowering from them.

"You ok?" Steve asked.

"Help me…" she said, looking terrified. Steve's heart nearly stopped at her plea before he pushed in, moving towards her.

"Be careful, Cap," he heard Natasha say before approaching the young woman.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, kneeling next to the woman. She looked at him sadly, before moving closer to him in what seemed like fear.

"I am sorry," she said softly, as her hand, that had already been moving slowly to the back of his neck, made skin to skin contact. Steve felt the pain before realizing his mistake.

'Help me,' Steve heard again, but this time in his head.

'Help you? What about me?' He thought. 'What are you doing to me?' he asked.

'I am draining your power. I am sorry. I have no choice,' she explained.

'You always have a choice…' he said before images flashed before his eyes. He sees her being grabbed and shoved down to a metal gurney by men with gloved hands, screaming for them to stop. She kicked one of them, nearly escaping before more came in, holding her down. Steve sees through her eyes, as a man with a sinister grin looks down at her, holding in his hand a small metallic device.

 _"Since you can not see reason, Rebecca, you'll just have to be controlled,"_ he said in German but Steve understood him. The memories suddenly switch to them testing the newly inserted device in her neck as she screamed in agony, Steve feeling every sensation along with her.

 _"If this does not persuade you, then the bomb attached to it will. Do as we say or boom,"_ he said with a laugh before Steve left the memory.

'Please help,' she pleaded again.

'How can we help you?' he asked feeling himself getting weaker.

'Save me from them,' she asked before he felt her leave his mind, with an agonizing scream. Steve blinked before seeing her a distance away, having been pushed off him by one of Tony's repulsor blasts.

"Cap? Are you ok?" He heard Natasha say. He nodded but he knew he didn't have the strength to stand.

"Rogers, what did she do?" Steve heard Tony say. Before he could answer, the red-headed woman stood up, shrugging off the blast like it was nothing. Tony looked at her oddly, like she shouldn't be standing after that.

"She took my strength," Steve said weakly. Tony took a breath.

"Well, that's new," he said before moving to shoot her again.

"Wait!" Tony heard Steve shout, stopping Tony.

"Why?!" Tony asked.

"Look at her," Steve said. Tony looked at her, right at her face. Her eyes were pleading and her mouth repeated a silent mantra: 'Help me.' She began to advance on Tony with the strength of Captain America behind her. Tony caught her arm, being pushed back by the force of it.

"She's not pulling her punches," Tony said, "...for someone asking for help."

"F.R.I.D.A.Y.," Steve called out. "Please do a scan of her neck," Steve said into the coms.

Tony watched in the iron suit as F.R.I.D.A.Y. followed Captain America's orders.

"A small detonation device is located within her neck," F.R.I.D.A.Y. responded.

"Son of a … is there any way to …" Tony started.

"Already on it," F.R.I.D.A.Y. said as Tony blocked more of the woman's strikes. Tony tried his best to block her moves before one got passed him, sending him flying away from her.

"Shit, she's strong," Tony huffed.

"She's me," Steve said trying to stand but his legs wouldn't hold him.

Tony stood, putting his arm out to hit her with another burst when F.R.I.D.A.Y. chimed in. "A close-range EMP burst should make the device inert. It won't be pleasant but it should work," F.R.I.D.A.Y. explained. "Calibrating," she announced to him.

"Close range meaning..."

"Right next to the device." F.R.I.D.A.Y. added.

"Meaning I have to get next to her…" he said to himself as she started to approach him at full force. "Not a problem..." Tony mumbled when he heard Steve yell out.

"We'll help you!" he said, causing her incoming attack to stop, inches from Tony's protective arms.

"Calibrated," he heard F.R.I.D.A.Y. say. Tony didn't need to be told twice. His arm went to her neck, a shock going out, causing her to scream before collapsing in his arms, passed out cold.

"The device?" Tony called out.

"Inert," F.R.I.D.A.Y. answered. Tony nodded before dropping her next to Steve.

"How did you know?" Tony asked.

"She told me…" Steve said, holding onto the unconscious woman.

"We need to get out of here," Natasha said, shooting an approaching Hydra agent.

"But the mission… the information…" Steve said.

"Let us handle it, once we get you two safe. Anyway, we got a consolation prize, one less enhanced in the hands of Hydra," Tony said. Steve looked at Tony before nodding. Natasha carefully picked up the woman while Tony helped Steve to stand before they fought their way back to the quinjet.

\----------------------

When she came too, she sat up with a jerk. Her hand went to her neck, feeling a sharp pain under the bandage that was now there.

"I removed it. Didn't want it to be reactivated and then poof," Tony said, sitting across from her in the quinjet, now in civilian clothes.

"Thank you," She said before looking around the small place, a little scared. Her eyes came upon a sleeping Captain America when she heard Tony.

"How long is he gonna be down for?"

"Depends. Few hours… a few days. It is different from person to person," She explained, still feeling his strength within her. She sighed at that. She saw Tony moved towards her and she recoiled in on herself.

"Do not touch me," she snapped, fear in her voice.

"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you."

"I - do not want to hurt you," she explained, looking over at the sleeping man.

"Yeah, about that, what happened? First, you latched onto Rogers and drained him dry, then he's protective of you," Tony asked, keeping his distance.

"I…" She started but looked really lost at that.

"She drained my powers," they both heard Steve say, exhausted as he sat up. "But she... I don't know. Talked to me, inside my head," Steve supplied.

"I do not just take powers, I form a link. I can read minds. I saw something when I touched you… I saw… salvation. I saw hope," she said with a sad smile. "A way out of that hell. I knew you could help me. Thank you." Steve smiled at her, giving her a slight nod.

"She talked to me. Showed me what they did to her… well, some of it." Steve said as she looked away from them, a tear in her eye. "What she went through. After that, I had to help her."

"And the bomb in her neck tells me she wasn't a very willing participant," Tony added. "You feeling any better Rogers?" Tony asked.

"I'll live," he said standing up to sit next to her. She cowered away from him.

"Please, do not touch me," she begged to him as he looked at her. He remembered his memories of her before he showed her his still gloved hand and she nodded back at him. He placed a hand on her chin, ignoring Tony's warning. Nothing happened as he moved her face to look at her bandage covered neck. He let go of her chin before a gloved finger wiped away her tear.

"You're safe now. We won't hurt you," he says to her. She nods softly, looking into his caring eyes.

"Huh? So skin to skin contact only." Tony said fascinated. She nodded to him as well. Tony went to the back of the quinjet, going through a few things before coming back with some clothes: pants, long sleeve shirt, and gloves. "This might make you feel more comfortable," he said, dropping the clothes next to her before leaving to check on Natasha in the cockpit.

"I'll give you some space," Steve said before getting up too quickly and she caught him before he hit the ground. He let out a light chuckle, their eyes meeting as she held him in place. "I see you still have my strength…" he said with a small smile. She smiled back at him.

"I will for a bit longer. Yours should be back soon. I am sorry for what I did… I…"

"Had no choice, I get that now," he said, pointing to his head. He slowly got onto his feet, leaving to give her privacy.

Steve walked into the cockpit and sat down with a sigh.

"You still with us, Cap?" Natasha said with a smile.

"Yeah, I'll live. She sure packs a punch…" he said.

"And you weren't the one she was punching," Tony said with a smile before it slowly slipped off his face. "Do you think we can trust her Rogers?" Tony asked.

Steve nodded without even really thinking about it. "Yeah… I really do," he said.

"What did she show you?" Tony asked. Steve sighed again, rubbing his hand over his face.

"They tortured her… because she wouldn't comply. They forced her down and put a bomb in her neck to get her to do what they wanted her to do. She was so scared… and alone…"

"Seems like she did a bit more than just show you what happened?" Natasha guessed. Steve nodded before looking out the window, lost in his thoughts.

They made it back to the Avengers facility before landing the quinjet. Steve was feeling mostly back to normal. The three left the cockpit to find her sitting in the back, clothed from her neck down with the clothes Tony provided her. Tony didn't blame her, with powers like hers, he would have done the same.

"Let's go get you checked out… ahhh… never asked you for your name…" Tony asked.

"Ahh it is Emma," she said softly. Steve looked at her confused.

"I thought it was Rebecca?" He asked her. She looked away from him, caught in her lie. "Why lie about that?" he asked her.

"Because Cap… she doesn't trust us yet," Natasha said as she moved passed them.

"At least not us," Tony said, pointing to him and Natasha before following Natasha out. Steve looked at her as she formed a light blush on her cheeks.

"You can trust them, you know. I trust them with my life… " He explained to her.

"I…" She started but he held his hand out to stop her.

"It's fine… it will take time, after everything," Steve told her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it. Leave a comment if you did! I know her powers are quite... Rouge-like but if you can move past that, I think you might quite enjoy this story. I quite enjoy writing it. It's got some interesting twists and turns. I have a bit of this written, so I will most likely post 3-4 time a week. MWF min, with maybe an extra one on the weekends.
> 
> One of the main inspiration for this story was a music Video I saw on youtube. Legends Never Die... I had to download the song and listen to it while I was writing this. If you want to see that MV, please do! One of the best I've seen. 
> 
>  
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-2ebKWoTcE


	2. Coming Home

Steve walks her to the medical unit so they could make sure she was ok. Helen Cho was already waiting for them thanks to Tony's heads up. Steve could tell that she was quite nervous to be in the medical unit and flashes of her being pushed down on a metal gurney replayed in his head. He placed a gloved hand on her back before whispering to her.

"No one's gonna hurt you. We just want to make sure you're ok," Steve said, trying to comfort her.

"Just bad memories," she said, before taking a deep breath.

"You have nothing to worry about, Ms.?" Helen asked her.

"Jones… Emma Jones," She said again, and Steve didn't have the heart to reveal her lie again.

"Ok, Ms. Jones, can you have a seat on the table. We need to run some tests. See how you're doing. Redress that wound on your neck," Helen said with a smile as her assistant tapped something into a tablet.

Rebecca nodded before sitting down. Helen smiled at her before sitting down as well. "I have some questions I need to ask, to get to know your background, to understand what happened to you," she explained. Rebecca looked at Steve for a moment. Seeing Steve nod, she turned to Helen.

"I will try to answer the best I can," she said.

"How long have you been with HYDRA?" Helen asked.

"I think since I was 8," she answered. "Most of my life."

"That's quite young…" Helen said sympathetically.

"Yes. They said there was something special about me. I guess they were right…" she said.

"So you were born with these powers?" she asked. Rebecca shook her head.

"No, they experimented on me for a while… gave me things, ran tests. It was not until I was 13 maybe 14 that I started to find my powers."

"And how old are you now?" Helen asked.

"22," she supplied. Helen nodded again, looking at a tablet in her hand, typing something.

"Do you have any idea why they thought you were special? Did they talk about it with you?" She asked.

"I think it had something to do with my parents, but I am not sure," She told them. "I only knew my mother… she rarely talked about my father, so he may have been something special." She explained.

"What can you tell me about your mother?" Helen asked.

"HYDRA, or at least she was until I was born. She left but they eventually found her and…" Helen nodded before looking at her tablet again.

"Mr. Stark reported that when you touch someone, skin to skin, you can absorb their power, but you can also establish a mental connection with the person. Is this correct?"

"Mostly. I do not just absorb power… I absorb, like the life energy and I make it my own. So they do not have to have powers for it to work. It is temporary for the most part, given enough time, it wears off. The person recovers." She told them.

"For the most part?" Steve asked. She looked at him sadly.

"They wanted to see how strong my powers could be. They pushed me to hold on longer then I wanted sometimes. If… if I hold on for too long, it stops becoming temporary. I take in the energy, and… it kills the person I am touching." She explained.

"How many people have you killed like that?" Steve asked. Rebecca looked away from him now, clearly ashamed of the answer. It worried Steve for a moment.

"Three… two because of them… and one of them, trying to escape. It is why they put that thing in my neck." Steve felt his heart almost break at her words. He moved to put his gloved hand on her back, offering her comfort.

"Do you mind if we get a blood sample?" Helen asked, trying to change the subject. Rebecca looked back at her worried. "I'll wear gloves, make sure we don't touch," she offered. Rebecca watched as Dr. Cho put on some latex gloves and Steve noticed her getting nervous.

"What's wrong?" He asked. She swallowed deeply before motioning to Helen.

"The gloves…" She said.

"Do they scare you?" he asked, thinking it reminded her of her past. She shook her head.

"They always used something… Thicker with me," she said, more worried about Dr. Cho's safety than her own.

"Oh, so latex gloves won't be enough?" Dr. Cho asked.

"Ahh not sure, never tried," she explained.

"Here, let me try," Steve said, before starting to remove his gloves, getting a pair of latex ones. She looked at him nervously. "Hey, I know I'll recover quickly if it doesn't work. I don't want to risk Dr. Cho's safety," he said, putting the new gloves on.

"What about your safety?" she asked. He gave her a smile.

"I'm tougher than I look," he said. He moved next to her and slowly began to strip off her glove. He then took his index finger and slowly moved it over the palm of her hand. "Anything?" he asked as he moved slowly to roll up her sleeve, exposing her muscular arm to his touch. She shook her head, mesmerized by his touch. He smiled again. "See, nothing to be afraid of."

"Well… the needle," she said with a chuckle. He chuckled as well, deep and masculine.

"I can't help you with that one," he said. She took ahold of his gloved hand, and he looked at it for a second before nodding. Dr. Cho moved in with a kind smile before drawing a few samples of blood. When she was done, they heard a familiar voice speak up behind them.

"Rogers, we need to talk, can I steal you away?" Tony said. Rebecca panicked when she heard this, gripping Steve's hand harder, one finger slipping up Steve's wrist, quickly making contact with his skin. Steve felt the pain again, as her powers started to work on him, not even knowing she was even doing it. Steve could feel her panic, her fear of being alone. 'Please don't leave me.' he could hear within his mind. When they both heard Tony call out his name, in worry, she let go with a quick jerk, curling in on herself.

"I am sorry," she said, pulling away from him as he gasped, feeling the pain reside.

"It's fine. I'm ok," Steve said.

"No… It is not… just... stay away," she said, panicking.

"Shhhh, you're fine," Steve said.

NO! Just leave me alone!" She screams, pulling as far away from him on the bed.

"Dr. Cho…" Tony said, but she was already on it, seeing the panic attack forming in her eyes.

"Hold her down," she asked. Steve didn't want too but saw they had no choice. Steve grabbed her arm as she began to scream for them to let her go. He watched as Dr. Cho plunged the sedative into her arm, watching as she slowly began to calm down, passing out in his arms. He put her down on the bed, before glaring at Tony.

"What was so important that it couldn't wait," Steve snapped. "You scared her…"

"She looks like she can take care of herself," Tony said.

"That was an accident… she didn't mean too." Steve defended.

"What's going on with you?" Tony asked. "I know she's cute but…" Tony started.

"Hey, it's not like that. She's just scared. After everything, she feels she can trust me and I wanted to make sure she was okay. You asking me to leave her, especially when a place like this reminds her of where she came from, it panicked her…"

"Well sorry, I'll apologize to your girlfriend when she wakes. You need to be debriefed. I also thought you would like to see the information we got from the base after you two took a nap on us," Tony said.

"He can go in a moment. I would like to take a quick blood sample, since she just used her powers on him, even if it was brief. I'd like to see if anything is off?" Dr. Cho asked. Steve nodded to her before starting to roll up his sleeve.

"I'll be there in a moment," Steve said, and Tony nodded before heading out.

____________________

Steve joined them sometime later, after Cho got through with him, and then changing out of his uniform. He quickly debriefed with Tony, Hill, Fury, and Natasha about the mission and their new asset.

"So you think she'll be useful to the Avengers?" Fury asked.

"Given enough time. Like Wanda, she's rough around the edges, but she's got a good soul," Steve explained.

"Because she shared some memories with you? Are you sure those were real? I mean Wonda herself can cause false memories." Hill said.

"It wasn't just the memories I was feeling, Hill. It was the emotions, it was like I was her in that instant. Something like that, it's quite hard to fake." Steve explained.

"So, she's got the Captain's approval, what about the rest of you?" Fury asked.

"I say let's see. She was being held under duress. She asked for our help. And she's quite powerful. Given some time, I think she would make a great Avenger…. If she's willing." Natasha added. They talked for a little bit more before Fury dismissed them. They filed out and Tony used the opportunity to tease Steve.

"You gonna check on the girlfriend?" Tony asked.

"Stark…" Steve warned. "You're making me regret asking for your help on this one…"

"Why did you? I mean, you could have asked Rhodey. He would have loved another War Machine story."

"He's new here and… I needed someone I could trust," Steve said.

"Aww see there Cap. I can always count on you for the sap," Tony teased, as he walked off, heading to his car, to leave.

"Thanks for the assist Tony," Steve said.

"Anytime… but not too often. You know how Pepper can get," He said, before heading out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the shortness. It's the shortest chapter I have planned for a while. Just ended good here.


	3. Family First

2 weeks later

Rebecca was given her own room, and she was starting to settle into the Avengers facility. Wanda and Steve took her shopping to get her some new clothes and basic essentials. She was quite enjoying her time with Wanda, getting to know her. She knew they would become fast friends. She was getting to know the other Avengers as well. Sam was quite friendly with her, almost to the point of flirting, to Steve's discomfort. That was lost on her, but not on Sam.

Rhodey was a little distant at first, but after a few days, he began to warm up to her as well. About the same time, her and Natasha started a daily training schedule. Natasha was testing her, trying to see what she knew, and what could be done to help her. Rebecca liked training with Natasha. It gave her a chance to speak her native language.

Vision, for the most part, was completely distant, but after Wanda explained his past, and for the fact that he was only a few weeks old, she gave him a pass. Watching how he reacted to Wanda, she knew it would only be a matter of time before he warmed up to her as well.

______________________

Steve was sitting in a conference room, surrounded by Fury, Hill, and Natasha while Dr. Cho was giving them the information she found out about 'Emma'

"I've been trying to find out how her powers work, with no such luck. I did stumble upon something I thought you should know," Dr. Cho said. "At first I thought her powers changed her DNA temporarily because I noticed super serum markers in the code. I figured she got them from you, Captain Rogers. But after further review of her blood, long after using her powers on Rogers, I noticed the markers still stayed. I thought it might be a permanent result of her powers, but if that was the case, she would have markers from every person she's ever touched, and I've seen, that is not the case."

"Does that mean she's a super soldier? That she has taken the serum?" Fury asked.

"I thought she was pulling her punches training with me, but this…." Natasha added.

"Not exactly," Dr. Cho said answering Fury's question. "With Captain Rogers, he has many of these super serum markers, but with Ms. Jones… her's are only partially there."

"So she's part super soldier?" Hill asked. "Like they couldn't get it right with her?"

"No…" Natasha said, getting it. Cho nodded to her.

"I think one of her parents was a super soldier…" Cho said. Fury's eyes glanced over at Steve.

"Don't look at me, I was frozen when she was born," Steve said.

"But you're not the only Super Soldier out there." Fury said.

"Bucky? No way…" Steve said. "His mind's been controlled."

"Wouldn't put it pass HYDRA to do something like this…" Hill said.

"But there may be more Super Soldiers out there for all we know," Natasha said.

"True, which is why I wanted permission, to run a DNA test. We have a small sample from your run in with the Winter Soldier… see if we can eliminate a possibility." Cho asked.

"Or confirm one. Permission granted. How long will it take?" Fury asked.

"Once I get the sample… a few days," She explained.

___________________

Steve found Rebecca in the gym. Something about all this wasn't sitting right with him and he needed to come to the source. He quickly went to the locker room. He got dressed, to work out, in a gray T-shirt and navy workout pants. He left the locker room to find her punching a punching bag, getting her excess energy out. She was dressed in her normal work out clothes, a breathable fabric that covered most of her body, but didn't leave much to the imagination. Steve took a breath before letting it out.

'I can't have these thoughts right now. She might be…'

Steve came up to her, moving to hold the punching bag.

"Thanks… but I am good," She said, moving away from the bag.

"Natasha thinks you're pulling your punches… that you're stronger than you are leading us to believe," Steve told her. Rebecca let out a huff before taking off the boxing gloves she had.

"She is mistaken," She said, moving to take a sip from her water bottle.

"I'm not quite sure she is mistaken. I've never trained with you before, but I have a feeling, I should be the one training you," he explained.

"Why? You like beating up on little girls?" She teased.

"You're no little girl. If you fight with me, you can use your full strength without hurting anyone else," Steve said. She shook her head.

"I have been using my full strength…"

"They ran tests on you, Rebecca. Your blood carries markers, the same markers I have on my blood, the parts that make me a super soldier," he explained. "Why lie about this? Why lie about your name? I just don't get that."

"Because… it is what you do with that information that concerns me. You put it on tablets…. put it in a file. A file that can be obtained… hacked. Taken. Information they can find me with…" She told him.

"So?" Steve said to her shock. "If they know your here and they decide to come for you then we will fight them. No one's gonna make you go back. Or do anything else that you don't want to do but at some point… you're gonna have to trust us," Steve said.

"I trust you, Steve… I just…"

"Then trust _in_ me. Trust that I will look out for you. I have your back. I will make sure you're safe." He said. She looked at him, with tears in her eyes before smiling.

"Okay. I will trust in you."

"Thank you." He said before adding. "Who's Emma?" She sighed.

"My mother's name. Not very original when it comes to aliases. Emma Jones was my mother."

"I have one last question for you."

"Okay… shoot," She said.

"While you were with HYDRA, did you ever come across a man codenamed The Winter Soldier?" He asked, and immediately wished he didn't ask. He watched as the smile and color drained from her face. She started to breathe faster.

"Hey - hey it's ok. You don't have too…" Steve said, moving closer to her, putting his hand on her arms, steadying her.

"No… it is fine… I just… not expecting that question." She explained. She looked him in the eye. "I have only seen him once. And that one time… was scary." She said. Steve looked into her eyes and could tell that was one memory he didn't want to see.

"I'm sorry I brought up the bad memories." He told her.

"It is fine. You did not know," she said. "Did you come to train?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yes, with you, so I can test just how strong you are?"

"I am not that.." She said, trying to deny it again on habit before he threw a punch at her. She caught it on instinct, with her full strength.

"Scheisse," She said cursed German, caught off guard.

"Not bad," He said, before throwing a few more punches that she easily caught. He could have easily overpowered her but he wanted to test her, not hurt her.

"Are you going easy on me?" She asked, after a few more blows.

"I don't want to hurt you," he said, sending a few more punches to her, before she caught his arm, wrapped it around her neck. She went low, taking out his legs before knocking him onto his ass.

"I am not that fragile," she said with a smile. He chuckled and flipped back onto his feet. They threw punches and moves, finally getting a good work out, something Steve hadn't gotten since he became Captain America. It felt good. She started to not hold back. She was almost giving him a run for his money. Almost.

She swung out again, trying to knock him off his feet and he saw it coming this time. He got a hold of her before she could knock him off balance and pinned her to the wall. They were both slightly out of breath from the fight. Their eyes met and before she could stop herself she leaned in, kissing him in a quick, chaste kiss. He looked at her for a moment, a little bit of shock on his face, processing what she just did. His eyes locked with hers, searching for a moment before he leaned back in, kissing her with a more passionate kiss. Once he felt her powers start to drain him, he backed away from her, nearly pressing his forehead to hers, breathing hard.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that," He said.

"Do you trust me?" she asked. He moved away, so he could look her in the eyes. He could see a slight smile on her face, and he smiled back.

"Of course," He said. Her smile widened as her hand went to caress his cheek. She closed her eyes, took a breath before leaning in, kissing him slowly. He leaned into the kiss for a moment, enjoying the feeling of her on his lips. They kissed for what seemed like forever before she pulled away, panting.

"What happened to your powers?" He asked curiously.

"Still there… I was trained to harness them."

"So you can turn them off when you want?"

"Not quite," she said. She quickly pushed against him, with more strength then she had before, and pinned him to the wall. "I still took your powers, just slower. It is hard to do, but it keeps me from draining the person too much. I get a boost and you can still retain your powers," She explained.

"That's gonna be handy… in more ways than one," He said with a flirtatious smile. She let out a small laugh before she pushed off of him, leaving him against the wall. He smiled at her, watching her walk to the locker room, not sure what to make of their new dynamic, and not knowing he was being watched.

\--------------------

The next few days went by in a flash. Steve had gotten a little closer to Rebecca, trying to explore their emerging feelings. They experimented with light touches and a few stolen kisses, in private, both of them enjoying their secret. They talked about her past, about some of the experiments she had participated to strengthen and control her powers.

He talked a little about his past, his own experiments, the war, and then being frozen, leaving out the parts about Bucky. He was able to talk a little about Peggy without it hurting too much. He talked about seeing Peggy recently. About feeling he lost so much time with her.

"But I guess things worked out," He said, his hand entwining with her gloved one. She smiled at him. "Hey what time…" He said looking at a clock. "Darn, I have a meeting," He told her, leaning to kiss her forehead before he got up, leaving her on the couch they had been sitting on. "I'll be back later," He told her. He left her room before heading to the meeting. He saw that Fury and Hill were waiting for him.

"Sorry I'm a little late," he said.

"Got distracted?" Fury asked.

"Just lost track of time, so what's up?" He asked as he sat down.

"Cho got the results of the DNA match," Hill said, looking at a tablet.

"And?" he asked. He looked at her. He didn't like the look on her face. He sighed. "She's Bucky's daughter… isn't she?" He asked. He knew on some level, he was just denying it.

"The test came back with a 92% likely that Rebecca and James Buchanan Barnes were related."

"That explains why he was out of hibernation so long in 1992," Steve said. He had been using the old SHIELD and HYDRA data they had been retrieving over the past year to piece together the Winter Soldiers timeline. He noticed that Bucky was only ever out anywhere between a few days to a few months, except then, where he was out for nearly 7 months.

"Most likely," Fury said, looking at the conflict on Steve's face. "Having second thoughts about making out with your best friends daughter?" Fury asked, getting a shocked look from Steve. "You weren't exactly hiding it," He explained.

"You don't approve?" He asked.

"Not exactly. Truth, I really don't care what goes on between you two as long as it's consensual. But we do have one concern?" Fury said.

"And that is?"

"Your life, when she drains you dry," Hill said. Steve laughed.

"I can understand that. She can control her powers… somewhat?"

"Somewhat?" Fury asked.

"She can touch someone and only slightly take their energy. She said she learned it when HYDRA was exploring her powers. It's hard for her, but she can control it. It doesn't even hurt." He said with a smile.

"And you?" Hill asked.

"Nothing really noticeable so far. She gets a slight power up and I get to keep my powers." He explained.

"That might be useful… having two fully charged super soldiers in the field." Hill speculated.

"Only if Cap is willing to work with her," Fury said, giving his blessing. "She would be your partner. You would need to train her up, make sure she's ready for missions." Steve liked the sound of that.

"I think she's more ready than some of the other recruits," He said honestly. "HYDRA has already trained her. She can fight."

"What about Wanda? If she can absorb someone's powers?" Hill offered. Steve thought about it for a moment.

"I could ask the two of them, but I still may be more suited because of my healing factor," he said, not liking the idea of sharing her. Fury gave him a knowing look.

"No harm in testing that. If it's not good between her and Wanda, then just you. But having a backup with Wanda wouldn't hurt," Fury offered. Steve nodded before leaving the meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First little Twist. I hope you liked it. Her name may have given it away though... let's see if anyone knows why.


	4. Sin's of the Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rebecca has a difficult time taking some troubling news about her past.

When Steve made it back to the common room he found Rebecca, and Wanda in the kitchen, trying to pull some semblance of a meal together. Wanda was the only real cook between the two of them, but Rebecca was eager to learn. When Rebecca saw Steve she sent him a smile.

"Smells good. What are you two making?" He asked, sitting at the bar, watching them work.

"Something called Goulash," Rebecca said as she finished browning the ground meat.

"It's something of a comfort food," Wanda told him.

"Can't wait to try it," Steve said with a smile, watching his girls work. When it started to become more of Wanda working and Rebecca watching, Steve chimed in.

"Mind if I steal Rebecca for a little bit?" He asked, getting Rebecca's attention.

"Anything in particular?" She asked, moving to wash her hands, cleaning up.

"Something… private," he told her.

"Oh," she said. "You got this?" She asked Wanda.

"Yeah, go talk," She said. Rebecca nodded, grabbed her gloves and followed him. He walked to his room. He opened the door and let her walk in. She felt a little nervous because she's never been in his room before. She saw his bed, a reading chair as well as a computer desk.

"Take the chair, it's pretty comfortable," He offered. She nodded, sitting there. He took the computer chair and rolled it closer to her, before sitting down.

"So what is so important?" She asked. He sighed.

"I'm not sure where to start…" He said honestly. He took a breath, getting his thoughts in order.

"Before I became Captain America, I had a friend. His name was James Buchanan Barnes. I called him Bucky," He started. "We both planned on enlisting in the war. He joined up but I was rejected at first. I kept applying until someone noticed. He saw something in me and accepted me. It led me to the super soldier program. To becoming Captain America." He explained.

"Once I joined the war, I found out the Bucky was captured by HYDRA." He said, hearing her breath hitch, but he continued. "I rescued him and we joined up. We formed a group with a bunch of men called the Howling Commandos. Having Bucky there, right by my side, was a dream come true. He was such a good man, one of the best. Eventually though, like all dreams, I guess it was time to wake up. On one of our missions… I had to watch Bucky fall off a train to his death," Steve explained.

"I am sorry to hear that," She told him, not sure why he was telling her this.

"But the thing is… he didn't die. HYDRA had experimented on him. He survived the fall, somehow. HYDRA found him after that and experimented more on him. Programmed him. Turned him into another super soldier, just like me. They slowly turned the greatest man I've ever known into their weapon," He told her.

"Just like me," She said, thinking this was the reason he was telling her about his friend. He nodded to her.

"They froze him, thawing him out whenever they needed that weapon." He explained. "A year ago, they set him loose on SHIELD. We had to fight, but something happened. Just being around him, something broke in his programming and he went from trying to kill me to saving my life. Then he vanished. I've been looking for him ever since," He told her.

"Have you found him?" She asked. He shook his head. "Then why are you telling me about this?" She asked.

"When he was trying to kill me… He left some… blood, hair, things like that behind. Because of that, we were able to get a sample of what the scientists call DNA?"

"DNA?" She asked, not sure what that was.

"I'm not sure either, but it can apparently tell a lot about a person. Like the fact that you have super soldier markers, just like I do. Just like Bucky does…" He said. She looked at him strangely, not sure if she could wrap her head around what he was hinting at.

"Dr. Cho took those samples from Bucky and ran them against yours. They were able to find out that he is your father," He said, spelling it out for her.

"So… your best friend from the war, is my father?" She said, not quite ready to grasp that. He nodded. "I guess it could be worse, you said he was a good man, and he broke through HYDRA's programming." She said, sounding hopeful.

"It's a little worse than that," He told her.

"How?"

"His code name… is the Winter Soldier," He told her. Her eyes went wide and she started to panic at that.

"No… that cannot be…" She said, as her breath quicken.

"Hey-hey let me in. Let me see it. Let me help you through it," He begged her, moving over to her now. She looked at him through panicked eyes, nodding. He moved his hands to her cheeks, feeling himself slip into her mind.

 _"Again!"_ she heard her tormentor say in German. She felt the metal hand go across her face, as she tried to block it, sending her back. She tried her best to fight against her assailant. Trying to outwit him, trying to better herself against him, but he was just too strong. She felt a hand on her shoulder, the only person who showed her anything close to kindness in this horrible place, her trainer.

 _"You can do this, find his weakness, get in there, and use your powers."_ He encouraged her.

 _"He is too strong,"_ She said nearly in tears. 'How could she fight this strong man? She was just a child,' she thought to herself, looking up and seeing the cold eyes of the Winter Soldier looking down at her.

'Oh, my… I'm so sorry you had to go through this,' she heard Steve's voice push past the memories that plagued her, the only memories she had of her father. Steve couldn't stand that. Couldn't help but think of moments of his own.

'Read my mind, Rebecca,' he asked her. He felt her reach out into his mind. Flashes of his memories appeared before them:

Of Bucky and Steve at the Stark Expo.

Bucky smiling.

Of Steve getting beat up and Bucky coming to his rescue.

Of them as kids, staying over at Bucky's house.

Of the war, rescuing Bucky.

Of them fighting against HYDRA.

Of Bucky falling off the train.

At that Steve let go of Rebecca, falling to the floor, exhausted.

"Steve!" She screamed, reaching out to him, tears in her eyes.

"I'm fine… I'm fine…" He breathed out.

"I am sorry… I am so sorry," She told him, hugging him.

"I asked for it. I knew this was gonna happen…" He told her. She helped pick him up and carried him to his bed. "I wanted to help you through those memories…. And show you who Bucky really was…" He said.

"Rest… you are tired," She said, tucking him into bed, before quickly leaving his room, despite his protest that he was fine.

She quickly made it back to her room, thankful no one was around to see the tears in her eyes. She leaned against the door before sliding down to the floor, starting to cry. How could the bastard, who beat the shit out of her repeatedly for days, in the guise of training her, when she was only sixteen, be her father… be Steve's best friend, be everything to everyone but nothing to her. She felt the tears flow but she also felt the anger well up inside her.

'It is not fair,' she thought to herself. She stood up, starting to pace around the room, like a caged animal, as she sorted through the memories, hers as well as his. How kind he was. How much he looked after Steve and Steve returning the favor.

"It is not fair!" She yelled, anger boiling over, her memories sweeping back to how it felt when he hit her, over and over. She wanted it to stop. She wanted it to be over. She lashed out, her fist pushing forward, hitting the wall with all the anger she felt, punching a hole into the wall.

She looked at it for a second, shocked, before she saw the red around the hole, pulling her hand back. She looked at her fist, seeing the skin and blood breaking through the fabric of her gloves. If she was anything less than what she was, she would have worried she broke her fist. As she moved her hand, she suspected she may have still done it, from the force of the impact.

"Becca? Are you ok?" She heard Wanda say through the door. She went to her drawer to pull new gloves out. She pulled off the one she damaged, gasping in pain.

"Becca…" She heard Wanda say, worriedly before opening the door. "Oh god… what happened?" She asked as she came up to her injured friend.

"Nothing… I just lost my temper," she admitted. Wanda took her wrist, careful to not touch her skin. She used her powers to start the healing process, causing Rebecca to wince. She was thankful to have the pain stop so quickly. She flexed her hand, seeing bruises but no broken skin.

"Thank you," She said, before putting a new pair of gloves on.

"What happened to get you that angry?" She asked, waving her hand over the wall, fixing it as well.

"You are good at that…" Rebecca said, trying to avoid the question.

"I learn too. You are not the only one with anger issues," Wanda said. "But it does help to talk about it," She added. Rebecca sighed, sitting down on her bed.

"Steve told me something… hard to hear. I freaked out a little, so to try and calm me down… he used my powers to help me deal with a bad memory. He held on too long. He will be fine, but he is going to wake up tomorrow, with a splitting headache, wishing he had not helped me," She said with a sigh.

"I'm sure that is not true. Steve's a good man. So what caused the anger, the news, or the fact that you felt like you hurt Steve?" She asked. She wasn't blind when it came to those two.

"Both..." She admitted.

"Would you like to talk about the news?" Wanda offered. Rebecca thought about it for a moment.

"Not today. I do not think I can go there again," She admitted. Wanda nodded.

"I can understand that. Dinner's ready. At least come get some food," She said with a warm smile.

"Sure," She said as she got up and the two women went to have some dinner. The others quickly showed up, the smells of the food drawing them. Rebecca was quiet as Rhodey and Sam joked around. She smiled as she watched her friends.

"Hey, where's Cap?" She heard Sam say.

"I think he headed to bed early," Wanda supplied.

"Huh… that's strange. I've never known him to go to bed early…" Sam said.

"I wore him out training," Rebecca said. Rhodey and Sam exchanged looks.

"So that's what they are calling it now?" Rhodey joked. Rebecca blushed.

"No… really we were just training," she said embarrassed.

"Leave her alone boys," Natasha told them. "What Cap and her do on their downtime is none of your business," She said, giving Rebecca a sly smile.

"You too Natasha," Rebecca whined, getting a laugh from the group.

"Were you training with your powers?" Natasha asked seriously. Rebecca nodded softly. _"Do we need to go check on him?" Natasha asked in Russian. Rebecca shook her head._

__

__

_"He will be fine by morning,"_ she said.

"Oh! Does that mean you're all supercharged on Cap power?" Sam jokes. She nodded. "Maybe we can go a few rounds. I swear Steve takes it easy on me when we train."

"He does, because he could kick your ass in a heartbeat," Natasha told him. "She would wipe the floor with you in seconds." Rebecca let out a laugh at that, smiling at the comment.

"So you agree with her then?" Sam asked.

"Absolutely," She said with a smile.

"OOOOOOO I hear a challenge there," Rhodey said.

"Gauntlet thrown down. Challenge accepted," Sam said. She laughed again before standing up.

"Thank you, Wanda, for such a wonderful meal. Boys, thank you for a wonderful conversation. I am heading to bed now, _dobroy nochi,"_ She said.

"Good night," Natasha said back to her.

Rebecca headed to Steve's door. She knocked lightly on the door, getting no response. She sighed before opening the door. She found him still asleep in his bed. She watched him for a while. She moved to sit in his reading chair, curling in on herself, watching over Steve. It didn't take her long before she fell asleep.

__________________________

She woke up the next morning covered up in a blanket. She quickly looked over at the bed, finding it empty. She got up, folding the blanket, putting it on his bed. She left his room. She quickly found him at the dining room table, eating breakfast.

"Hey," She said, getting his attention.

"Hey, Thanks for watching over me…" He said with a smile.

"Well it was kind of my fault," She said, sitting next to him.

"I wouldn't say that. If it was anyone's fault it was mine." He told her, taking her hand in his, squeezing it lightly. "I talked to Wanda this morning," He told her. "She's worried about you."

"She just saw me… after," she admitted.

"Wanda sees a counselor. Daily," He admits to her. "She has a lot of issues to work through. She suggested that you might want to do the same thing… work through your issues," he offered her.

"I am not sure, talking to some stranger would work for me," She said honestly.

"Well, I think you need to talk to someone," He offered her.

"You?" She asked.

"I'm willing. Or Wanda, Or Natasha if they are willing. But keeping it in… letting your anger get the better of you… we can't have that here," He explained to her.

"She told you about the wall?" She said. He nodded.

"Not that last night wasn't a doozy, but we need a find a better way to process it," he said. She nodded at that. He squeezed her hand one last time before letting it go. "Are you hungry? I can make you something to eat," He said, getting up and putting his plate away.

"Sure," she said with a smile and watched as he made her breakfast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was playing around with adding some images... seeing if I like it. I may do it again. May not. I'll see. 
> 
> Let me know if you're enjoying the fic.


	5. The Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Cap is away, Fury comes to play

Another week went by, Steve and Rebecca trained during the day. She was learning how to harness her powers and was learning how to fight with her new found strength, thanks to Steve. Natasha still worked with her with technique, but for the most part, her partner was Steve and that was fine with her.

In the evenings they got to know each other better, getting closer and learning her powers in other ways, which was just as fine with her. She quickly learned how private Steve was. While he was willing to explore with her, their new found feelings in private, in public he rarely did much more than hold hands. She enjoyed pushing him a little out of his comfort zone, but for the most part, she respected his wishes.

She opened up to Steve only once about her past. Someone had tripped a memory and Steve was able to calm her down from it, without too much trouble.

Then Steve was assigned a mission. He explained to her he would be gone in the morning, and if things went well, he should be back before nightfall. Rebecca wasn't sure how to react to this. She wished she could go with him, but she knew, she wasn't ready for a mission quite yet.

They were sitting on the couch in her room. She was in his arms, loving the feeling of them wrapped around her.

"What if I have another panic attack?" she asked him.

"Then you'll have to work through it," He said, holding her softly. "Do your breathing, and try focusing on another memory until you can work through it." He advised her.

"I am going to miss you," She said, snuggling into him. He laughed.

"It's not like you're gonna be alone… you'll have Wanda and Vision to keep you company," he told her.

"I can still miss you," she told him. He leaned down slowly, giving her time to prepare for his contract before he kissed her forehead.

"I'll miss you too," he said. "I should go," He told her as he got up.

"Good night, Steve," She told him. He smiled, leaning in, pressing a quick goodnight kiss to her lips.

"Good night, Rebecca," he told her before he left her room.

____________________________ 

The next day, Rebecca decided to be a hermit, staying in her room to read. It was a little before lunch when the knock came to her door.

"Come in," She said.

"Hey," Wanda said. "Fury requests our presence in the gym." She smiled at Wanda.

"And here I thought with the team gone, we were finally getting a day off," she joked.

"Apparently not," Wanda told her with a smile. "Viz will be there too," She told her.

"Just give me a little bit. I will meet you there in a few minutes," She told her.

"I will see you there," She said and left Rebecca's room. She looked at her tablet, marking her place, before putting the tablet down. She quickly made her way to the locker room, getting dressed.

She came out of the locker room to see Fury, Wanda, and Vision waiting on her. She noticed Hill off to the side, watching.

"What is up?" Rebecca asked.

"About a week ago, I talked to Cap about this. I hadn't heard much about it, so I decided to jump in," Fury said. "I want to do an experiment with you two." He said pointing to Rebecca and Wanda. "I know you've been working with Rogers, Ms. Jones, but I wanted to see if you might also be able to work with Ms. Maximoff." He explained.

"Work with, you mean borrow her powers?" she said nervously.

"Precisely."

"Steve talked to me about this. I wasn't comfortable so he told me we would not do it," Wanda said.

"What makes you uncomfortable about this?" Fury asked Wanda.

"My powers… are quite strong. It took me awhile to control them," She admitted.

"She can absorb just a little bit, we can try that, if it helps," Fury said. Rebecca could tell that she was still uncomfortable.

"What is it Wanda?" she asked softly.

"I… I do not want you to read my mind," She said honestly.

"Is that it? Is that what is bothering you?" Rebecca asked. Wanda nodded. "I do not have too. Unless I am trying, I try not too. I will feel strong emotions or forefront memories, but if you try and clear your mind before we start, I should not pick up on much, if anything," She explained. She watched the woman's reservations lift over this, seeing willingness as she nodded. Now Rebecca started to feel her own reservations. She walked over to Fury to talk to him privately.

"Can we wait until Steve gets back?" She asked him.

"Why, Ms. Jones?" he asked. She blushed slightly.

"In case anything goes wrong… he could… ahh… pull me out of it," She said nervously.

"Have confidence in yourself Rebecca… we do," Fury said softly to her. She looked at him for a moment, processing that before she nodded. She walked back over to Wanda.

"Ahh…. You ready?" She asked her. Wanda nodded. "Ok, take some deep breaths. Try your best to clear your mind. If you are having trouble, then focus on a memory you would not mind sharing with me." Rebecca said as she took off her gloves. She watched as Wanda took a few deep breaths.

"I am ready," Wanda said. Rebecca took some breaths as well, getting her nerves and powers under control before taking Wanda's hand.

Rebecca felt Wanda's power quickly. It was intense. She also felt her emotions. Happiness with a bit of sadness. She was playing with a young boy when she was young herself.

'Is that her brother?' she thought, without even realizing she was asking Wanda as well. Wanda's memories quickly changed and Rebecca was overwhelmed with the memories of the moment her brother died. At that moment Wanda could feel the pain of his death, the connection between them sever, Wanda feeling the immense loss of it all and then the destruction that followed.

Rebecca felt her own memories surface then. She watched as HYDRA agents came crashing into her home, grabbing her, pulling her away from her mother. She watched as they yelled at her, yelled at her mother. She watched as her mother fought against them before eventually dying, with a bullet straight through her skull.

She let go of Wanda then, letting out an anguished cry. She sent out a wave of Wanda's power without even trying. She watched as Vision protected Wanda while Fury was knocked onto the ground, fearing that she killed him.

It was too much. It was just too much. She wasn't sure she could control this, but before she could even get a chance she felt the tranq dart enter her neck. She turned to look at Hill, with a gun trained on her. Her eyes got heavy before she fell to the ground, unconscious.

__________________________

The mission was harder than expected but was quite successful. Another arm's dealer gone.

Steve was sitting in the back of the quinjet, relaxing after the battle. Sam sat next to him in civilian clothes.

"How are things going?" Sam asked. Steve looked at him curiously.

"Fine… I guess."

"I mean, I haven't seen much of you these past few weeks, " He told Steve with a knowing smile.

"I'm sorry if I've been a little… preoccupied."

"I know, making friends and all. You did the same thing the first week when Wanda was here…. well maybe not the exact same thing," He said with a sly smile.

"Hey, It's not like that…"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you found something. She's got a good heart, despite everything she's been through. And she's cute to boot. Got the whole Russian accent thing going for her. I'm just saying, make some time for your friends once and awhile," He teased him. Steve let out a chuckle at that.

"We'll do."

_________________________________ 

Once they got back to the facility, all hell broke loose for Steve. The quinjet landed and they started to disembark, being met by Fury. He looked like he had seen better days. He had a black eye, bruising, and his arm was in a sling, most likely broken.

"What happened?" Steve said, immediately in fight mode, thinking there may have been an attack on the base.

"Stand down," He commanded. Steve relaxed. Fury took a breath. "You need to come with me," He told Steve. Fury turned to walk, slower than he normally would, clearly in pain.

"I decided while you were gone… to do something you recommended we shouldn't. I have come to realize that I should have trusted your instincts."

"You normally trusts my instincts. What was different about this one?" He asked, racking his brain on what Fury could have done.

"Well, when it comes to her, I thought you're instincts might have been a little off," he explained. Steve's eyes went wide with anger.

"You didn't!" he barked out.

"We did."

"Who else got hurt?" He growled out.

"Just me, Vision shielded Wanda and took most of Rebecca's power. He's fine. Hill was too far away. No one else was within striking distance."

"What about Rebecca?"

"Medical unit, sleeping off the rest of the power…"

"How is Wanda taking it?"

"She's sleeping as well. Rebecca took more than we were planning."

"Well if she lost control, she can do that. She hasn't mastered her powers. She's still quite susceptible to her emotions. That is why I didn't want us proceeding. But no, the great Nick Fury knows best…" He bit out.

"Hey, Steve… I'm sorry. I made a mistake, ok." Fury said but Steve wasn't listening anymore. He moved past the slower man and hurry to the medical unit still in his uniform. He quickly found her in a bed, asleep. Dr. Cho came up to him.

"We've been keeping her sedated until Wanda's powers dissipate." She explained to him. He looked at the monitors and saw her heartbeat.

"Her heart is racing. What's going on?"

"We're not sure. We know she's fighting the sedation. We did an EKG on her and found her mind is racing as well. She's in a constant REM state," She said,

"REM?" he asked.

"Dreaming," She explained. He felt his anger again.

"This is why I wanted to wait…" He said more to himself than to her. He started to take his gloves off.

"Hey, I wouldn't do that…" Cho said.

"I've done it before…"

"Not after she has absorbed this much power," Cho argued.

"I'm willing to take that risk," He said. Cho sighed.

"Give me a few minutes, to set you up with some monitors to make sure you're ok… so we can pull you out if necessary," she offered him. He nodded at the compromise. She got him settled in a chair right next to her, hooking up a heart monitor as well as an EKG. He took off her gloved hand before taking her hand in his.

He slips into her mind, moving past the pain her powers were giving him. He knew he didn't have much time. He quickly saw why her mind was racing. He watched as Wanda's memories of her brother's death and then Rebecca's own memories of her mother's death repeated over and over in her mind.

'Becca…' He said softly, seeing the scared girl. He pushed past the HYDRA agents in her memories, taking ahold of the scared little girl.

"Becca, you're safe. No one else is gonna hurt you," He told her, feeling the little girl cling onto him, before she was suddenly her adult self, holding him.

"Steve?" She said confused. "What happened?"

"Wanda…"

"Her power… I remember…"

"You need to let it go," Steve told her, kissing the top of her head. She nodded against him.

"You need to let go as well," She said, feeling his strength enter her. He nodded.

"I'll be there when you wake."

"Thank you."

"That's what partners are for," He explained. He leaned in, kissing her on the lips. He slipped out of her mind as he let go of her hand.

Steve slumped tiredly in the chair, exhausted.

"You ok, Captain?" he heard Cho say.

"Yeah… she will be too," He said, noticing that her heartbeat was beginning to slow. He moved to put his gloves on, putting hers on as well before taking her hand in his. He quickly fell asleep in his chair, holding her hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for asshole Nick Fury there. Just thought it was something he might do. Steve to the rescue.


	6. Avengers Assembled

Within a month after the Wanda incident, Rebecca was initiated as a full-fledged member of the Avengers. Steve helped her design her own suit. Tony helped with the structure, making it incredibly strong and durable. It was similar to black widows in construction but was a dark blue. It had two thigh holsters since her gun training had been going so well. It was equipped with gloves that could be easily removed in case she chooses to use her powers. 

She fell in love with the suit as soon as Steve presented it to her, ready to take on the world. Soon after that, she started to go on missions with Steve, and they became nearly inseparable after that.

Her first mission was to take down a new designer drug that was causing havoc in the UK. The drug ended up being laced with some crude version of the super serum, causing people who took too much to lose control. Steve, Natasha, and Rebecca went undercover at some clubs, a common distribution center for the drug. They were trying to track the drug down to its source. Steve and Rebecca played a couple, while Natasha played a professional party girl. Using the photostatic veil to disguise Steve and Natasha, they all blended right in, and quickly infiltrated the source, taking down the distributor, getting the drug off the streets.

She was on cloud nine after that success, with much encouragement from Steve and Natasha.

When the next two missions with Steve were just as successful, she felt the confidence in herself and her abilities skyrocket. She knew this is where she belonged, where she was meant to be. She was home, with Steve, with the team. She loved finally knowing her place in the world.

_________________________________

2 Months Later

_________________________________

Rebecca was sitting in her room, reading a book when Steve came bursting into her room without even a knock.

"Suit up, wheels up in 15 minutes." He told her. She looked at him for a second before she jumped to it, following him out.

"What is going on?" She asked. He stopped just for a moment.

"You'll find out in about 15 minutes, hurry," He said all business. She nodded to him, knowing she shouldn't use the girlfriend card right now, before going to the locker room, to get dressed for the mission. She saw Natasha there.

 _"Do you know what is going on?"_ Rebecca said in Russian, getting dressed.

"Not a clue, He'll let us know on the quinjet, but I'm guessing it must be time sensitive." She explained in English. Rebecca nodded, trusting in her team. Trusting in Steve.

They made it to the hanger to see Steve walking into the quinjet, quickly followed by Sam.

"Natasha you have the wheel," Steve said.

"Sure, where are we going?" She asked.

"Madrid," He told her. She nodded, before going to pilot the quinjet.

Sam and Rebecca sat down as the quinjet started to take off. Steve handed them both tablets.

"How good is your Spanish?" Steve asked her.

"My German is better…" She said honestly.

"How many languages do you know?" Sam asked her.

"German, Russian, English, a little Spanish, and French." She told him.

"HYDRA kept you busy," Sam said, before receiving a dirty look from Steve.

"My mother taught me them," She explained. "HYDRA just forced me to use them," She said honestly before she started to read the information she was presented. Steve smiled at her as she read, thankful she could brush off the mention of HYDRA so easily. He was proud of how much she's grown in the past few months.

"Rumlow… you got a lead on Rumlow…" Sam said, knocking Steve out of his thoughts and getting Rebecca's attention.

"Yes, I think we might have a shot at him," Steve said. Rebecca looked back at the reading over Rumlow, about how he was a HYDRA agent who had infiltrated SHIELD, before their downfalls. How he helped on project insight. How he tried to capture and kill Steve before nearly dying in the Battle at the Triskelion after fighting with Sam.

"Guess you all have some bad blood with this Rumlow…" She said to Sam and Steve, without even looking up from her tablet.

"Something like that…" Steve said. She kept reading about how he woke up in the hospital, finding out about HYDRA and SHIELD's downfall. He assaulted his nurse before escaping. Now he's been robbing banks all over Europe. She got to the end, feeling that the rest of the information was inside Steve's head.

"You have an idea of his next hit?" She asked Steve, handing him back the tablet.

"We got a reliable tip that his next target it the Banco de España," He told her

"The Bank of Spain…" Sam said. "When is he planning on hitting it," he asked.

"Tomorrow, 12:00, Madrid time."

"It is about 17:00 in New York so that would be…" She said thinking for a moment, "23:00 in Madrid. So we have 13 hours to prepare," Rebecca said.

"With 6 of them being in the quinjet," Steve said.

"So 7 hours once we hit the ground… no wonder you hurried us out." Rebecca said, grabbing her tablet back from him, typing on it.

"Any information on the bank?" She asked.

"Hill should be sending it whenever she gets the info," Steve explains. She nodded, looking at the recently received files, before noticing nothing had been received. She set an alarm on the tablet, to alert her as soon as anything was received. When she was done, she put it down and looked at Steve. He was smiling at her.

"What?"

"You and Technology. How is it you've mastered it within a few months yet I always have trouble with it…"

"It is a hard thing for the elderly to learn," She joked with a smirk. He raised an eyebrow at that. Sam stifled a laugh.

"Really, you're gonna bring age into this…"

"Tony's been giving her lessons…" They hear Natasha say over the coms. Rebecca let out a laugh. She should have known Natasha was listening in.

"Tony's not even there that much. You've spent what? A total of 2 weeks with him?" She smiled at him.

"I am a quick learner…" She said, giving him a flirty smile. They hear the alarm go off on the tablet. She quickly looked at the information, as she hears Sam muttering something about 'saved by the bell.' She gave him a quick glance. He smiled at her and she rolled her eyes.

She quickly found what she was looking for, before turning the screen holographic, showing them all the 3-D blueprints of the bank, placing it on the floor of the quinjet. Steve and Sam lean to the edge of their seats, looking at the blueprints.

"Any information on how he's going to hit it?" Sam asked.

"No, just the time and date."

"Fun," She said, grabbing Sam's tablet, typing something into it before pulling up another display, of a few blocks around the bank, placing it next to her tablet. She watched as Steve and Sam looked over both tablets, their minds racing with plans. She smiled at him. After a few minutes, he noticed it.

"What?" Steve asked.

"You and strategizing…" She told him. He rolled his eyes with a smile before looking back at the maps. She decided to give them the time to work up a plan, so she went to the cockpit and sat next to Natasha.

"I'm surprised you didn't tell him about your online chats with Stark," Natasha said as Rebecca shrugged.

 _"I do not tell him everything,"_ She said softly, in Russian. Natasha smiled at her. Rebecca liked her native tongue, and she loved having a person to speak it with. Natasha obliged her.

 _"That surprises me since it seems like you two are inseparable,"_ Natasha teased. Rebecca smiled at that.

 _"I am allowed to have a life,"_ She said looking over the controls of the quinjet. _"Still think you should teach me how to pilot this thing,"_ Rebecca said with a smile. Natasha shook her head.

 _"I know you are smart, but Sam, Steve and I all have piloting experience…"_ Natasha said.

_"And I do not?"_

_"Was that something HYDRA taught you?_ " Natasha asked. Rebecca looked at her for a second.

 _"No… that would have been too much of a liability for them… but I am a quick learner… you know that Nat,"_ She begged. Natasha let out a laugh.

 _"Not going to happen… tonight,"_ She said, giving Rebecca a glimmer of hope.

 _"I will take it,"_ She said. _"So, it is going to be my first bank robbery,"_ She said after a while. Natasha smiled.

 _"Lots of firsts for you lately, but like you said, you are a quick learner. You will do fine,"_ Natasha told her as they fell into a comfortable silence.

___________________________

Rebecca was sitting at a table in the bank. She was dressed in a pantsuit, tapping on her tablet. Natasha was sitting across from her, in a wig, looking like a customer. Rebecca looked at the tablet again, looking over the security cameras, not seeing anything out of the ordinary.

"You sure about that info?" She heard Natasha whisper. Rumlow was already an hour late.

"Positive," They heard Steve say into their earpieces. He was currently in one of the back offices, out of sight.

"Maybe he made us…" Sam said from his vantage point, the roof from the building across from the bank.

"We were careful…" Steve said.

"Maybe he has an inside man…" Rebecca offered. "And we scared him off when we alerted security."

"He's kind of pissed at us, I don't think us being here would have scared him off," Natasha said honestly. Rebecca sighed, looking through the cameras again. She was feeling Steve's powers starting to taper off. She knew if anything happened, she was going to have to rely on her own strength. 'As well as the guns you stashed,' she thought with a smile. She noticed something on one of the cameras, giving it a funny look.

"You got something, Rebecca?" Natasha asked.

"Give me a second," She told Natasha as she looked at the footage again. She watched it for a moment, not sure what she was looking for but something seemed off… she swore she saw that employee go out for a quick cigarette break already. She looked up from the tablet, looking around the lobby, seeing the same employee currently at work.

"Scheisse... I think someone has tampered with the camera, back alley."

"On it," They hear Sam say. Rebecca heard the click of a gun. She saw Natasha pull her's out before she trained it on someone behind Rebecca. That was when Rebecca felt the barrel on the back of her neck.

'Shit, they had been set up,' she thought before Rumlow and 7 men, all in full tactical gear came busting in from the back of the bank. One of the men quickly trained a gun on Natasha.

Steve came in, shield out, gun trained on Rumlow. Rebecca's eyes locked on Natasha's.

"Rogers…" Rumlow said behind his mask. "Nice to see you again," He said, motioning to his men as they started to rob the bank, the one on Natasha not moving. For one second, Steve's eyes betrayed him, as he looked at Rebecca. Rumlow noticed the glance, looking over at Natasha and Rebecca.

"Worried about your girls?" Rumlow asked.

"Not really, they can take care of themselves." He said honestly. Rumlow took one step to Rebecca and Steve did the same, Rumlow noticing the anger in his eyes.

"Ohhhh," Rumlow said before they all heard a commotion from the back. Rebecca saw the signal from Natasha and she jerked to the side, out of the way of the gun, before grabbing the security guard with her bare hand around his wrist, taking his energy quickly, as well as his gun.

Natasha quickly jumped to action, fighting and then disarming the man with the gun trained on her. Steve threw his shield, catching Rumlow off guard. It knocked Rumlow back before going back to its owner. When he got his balance, Rumlow looked, seeing Steve, Rebecca, and Natasha with guns trained on him. Rumlow chuckled at that.

"What's with you and the red hair?" He asked, pointing to Rebecca and Natasha, not fazed at all by them.

"Give it up, Rumlow," Steve said.

"And why should I do that, Rogers?" Rumlow asked as the grenade rolled in beside Steve and Natasha. Natasha and Rebecca ducked for cover while Steve took his shield, covering the grenade as it explodes. Steve looks up from the explosion, seeing the men trying to escape, with duffle bags worth of money, followed by Sam and Natasha. He sees Rebecca heading for Rumlow.

She quickly caught up to Rumlow, fighting him hand to hand, trying to see a way into his armor so she could drain him. Subdue him. She saw him reach for a gun as she heard the familiar sound coming towards her. She grabbed Steve's shield, holding it in front of her as Rumlow gets a shot off. She bashes him with it before turning to block an incoming attack from the side. Steve caught up with them, attacking Rumlow while 3 of his men started to attack Rebecca. She blocked one with his shield, punching another before she heard the shot and the pain in her side. She felt the punch to her face before she hit the ground, the shield hitting the floor as she fell.

Rumlow used the momentary distraction to kick Steve in the chest before they all ran to the exit. Rebecca's hands went to her side, feeling the blood starting to pool there.

"Scheisse…" She said, knowing she would survive, but damn did it hurt. She had never been shot before…

"Rebecca!" She heard Steve say.

"I am ok… go get him," She told him. He shook his head, looking around for something to stop the bleeding.

"Nat and Sam's got it," He said. A bank employee offered his jacket and he used it to try and stop the bleeding. She grabbed it with her own hands.

"I am fine… get him…" She told him. Steve looked at her, before nodding, leaving her to go into the alleyway to find, nothing.

"Nat? Sam? Where are you?" Steve asked.

"Getting lost in the sewers. They knew what they were doing…" Sam said. Steve sighed. It was a great escape plan, neutralizing Sam's abilities.

"Keep tracking them. See if you can find anything," He said.

"You take care of her…" Natasha said. "We've got it," He smiled to himself before going back into the bank, to check on Rebecca.

__________________________________ 

They had been on the quinjet for a few hours, in silence at their defeat. Rebecca was sitting in a pair of jeans, long sleeve shirt with gloves on. Steve was sitting beside her, in a t-shirt and jeans.

"I can not believe he got away…" Rebecca said, breaking the silence. She was holding her aching side. She had gotten patched up at a local hospital before they left.

"He knew we were there… he had the advantage…" Steve said, giving Sam a look. Sam nodded before leaving them to talk, joining Natasha in the cockpit.

"You would have got him if I had not got shot…" She said. Steve sighed at that.

"Maybe...maybe not, but you were and we need to move past that," Steve said.

"I am just... not sure how I missed the gun…" She said.

"It's because it was Rumlow who shot you…" Steve said. She looked at him a little shocked. He wouldn't look her in the eyes.

"Rumlow?" she questioned. Steve nodded.

"He pulled a gun on me, and I quickly grabbed it, pushing his arm away from my body, but I think that's what he wanted me to do. He smiled at me, and pulled the trigger, shooting you instead. He played me… he played us…" Steve admitted, looking guilty.

"Hey… He is the one who shot me," She told him.

"It's still my fault," He argued.

"Why is it your fault?" She asked him.

"When he moved to you… I got angry… he saw. I let my emotions get the better of me…" He admitted. "I let my feelings for you show, and he used that against me…"

"Feelings?" She prompted. He huffed out a breath. He turned, looking into her eyes, giving her a small smile. He moved his hand to her cheek, caressing it, letting her take in his power.

'Feelings…' He said in her mind. She felt how much he cared for her. How scared he was when he saw her shot, how angry he was at Rumlow, as well as himself.

'Hey, We are human. We are not perfect.' She said, caressing his cheek with her gloved hand, pulling him into a quick but passionate kiss before they both let go.

"I do not blame you… I blame him," She told him. He nodded, pulling her in gently, as they made it back to the facility. Dr. Cho quickly looked over Rebecca, helping her heal quickly from her ordeal.


	7. Crumbles From Within

___________________________

5 months later - Lagos -

___________________________

Rebecca was looking out a window, listening to the banter of Natasha, Wanda and Sam with a smile. When she heard Steve tell them 'eyes on target', she lost the smile, focusing again. She noticed something strange on the road but before she could even say anything, Steve noticed as well, coming up behind her placing a hand on her shoulder, looking over her at the garbage truck.

"Sam, see that garbage truck? Tag it." Steve ordered.

"That truck's loaded for max weight. And the driver's armed." They heard Sam say once red wing was in place.

"It's a battering ram," Natasha said.

"Go now," Steve said. "He's not hitting the police." Rebecca started to take her glove off when Steve grabbed her, pulling her into a kiss. It shocked her for just a second before she leaned into the kiss, absorbing his powers as he deepens the kiss.

'Its faster this way," she heard him say into her mind. She responded with a mental laugh.

'Keep telling yourself that, Steve.'

'Stay safe,' she heard before he broke the kiss and ran off to meet up with Sam. She used the extra boost of speed he gave her to quickly meet up with Wanda.

Wanda grabbed Rebecca, sending both of them over the wall, using her magic to protect them both from gunfire. Once the hostile was settled, Rebecca went off to secure the compound. She had a feeling this wasn't their escape route.

"Rumlow has a biological weapon," She heard Steve say over the coms.

"I'm on it." She heard Natasha say. Rebecca could see Natasha taking on several guys from a distance. Before Rebecca could make it to her, she sees Natasha being push into an AFV. Rebecca got between Rumlow and his escape route.

"How cute… the girlfriend," He said as they began to fight. They exchanged blows, Rebecca using all the strength that Steve gave her to slow him down. She heard an explosion behind her and glass breaking in front. She did a roundhouse kick before he grabbed her leg.

"You're stronger," He admired as he primed his arm, punching her straight in the chest, sending her flying back, knocking the breath out of her. She watched as he climbed aboard another AFV.

"He's in an AFV," She warned, before watching him take a shot at the wall. At Steve. She watched as Steve gets hit, falling off the building as the AFV went off. She heard him say it was heading north and she took a breath knowing he was ok.

She ran after the AFV before hearing about the shell game. She saw Steve head north so she headed the other way. She caught up just in time to see Natasha fighting two men before one of them told her to drop the gun, or he drops the biological weapon. She smiled. She had this.

She quickly discarded her gloves and got behind him quietly, one hand going to his neck, and the other to his hand, grabbing the vial as she disabled him, taking his energy until he dropped, unconscious. Natasha nodded to her.

"Payload secured," she said. Rebecca carefully handed the vial off to Natasha, shaking off the new energy she absorbed.

"You ok?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah… he was just a son of a bitch…" she explained. They started to make their way back to Steve when they saw the explosion.

"Oh god…" Rebecca said as they both started to run to the explosion, to help.

__________________________

The Avengers started to help, but once law enforcement showed up, and witnesses started to get angry over what had happened, they decided to make a retreat. As they flew back to New York, Rebecca could see something was off with Steve. She moved to sit next to him before taking his hand in hers. He pushed her away. She was a little shocked at that. He had never pushed her away before. She looked up at his face, but he wouldn't look at her, lost in thought. She moved from him, seeing he obviously wanted to be alone.

She moved over to sit with Wanda, who she knew was devastated over what just happened. She knew her well enough to know she didn't want to talk about it but she knew she wouldn't mind the comfort. Rebecca pulled her into her arms, holding her against her, giving her what little comfort she could give her, knowing it wouldn't do much to compound the guilt she was feeling. They just sat in silence as they went home.

They were debriefed as a team, talking about what happened. When Rebecca heard Steve talk about what Rumlow said about her father, she held her breath for a moment. She understood his distance now. Bucky was always a sore spot for Steve. After they had debriefed, they went to go get cleaned up.

After her shower, she quickly got dressed in her jeans, long sleeve shirt and gloves before going to find Steve. They needed to talk. She quickly found him in his room, freshly cleaned from his shower, wearing a long sleeve dark shirt, with gray khakis.

"Are you pushing me away because you want to be alone… or because of Bucky?" she asked. He sighed and sat on his bed.

"Neither," he said, motioning for her to join him. She moved to sit next to him, arms wrapping protectively around her shoulder.

"I froze... when I heard his name. I should have seen the bomb. People died because of me," he explained.

"No… they died because of him. You two were caught in a terrible situation and tried your hardest to save people. But we are not gods, despite our powers." She told him hoping her words would help. She felt him pulling her in closer.

"I should have still been able too…" He started. She pulled away from him, turning to look at him, kneeling beside him. She put her hand on his cheeks, cursing mentally at the lack of skin contact. She looked into his sad eyes.

"We are human. We are not perfect." She told him. He smiled at the words. She leaned in slowly, giving him a gentle kiss. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her into his lap before he deepened the kiss. She could feel all his pain and anguish over what happened. She was trying her best to send him all the comfort and love she could. She could feel his need beginning to grow between her legs and she wished she could do more than kiss him. She wished she could give herself to him completely.

'Me too, doll,' he thought to her.

She felt herself being slowly lowered onto her back, feeling him looming over her. It felt right. He started to kiss slowly down her neck before he nibbled at her pulse point. She moaned out his name. She heard his light growl of approval.

'We need to stop' she thought, as he devoured her neck.

'I trust you, you won't hurt me,' he sent back, moving back to her lips, kissing her even more deeply, causing her to push up into his need. He moaned out.

'I do not trust myself,' she thought. She felt him back away from her slowly, looking down at her with his lust filled eyes.

"Then let's stop," he told her.

"I do not want to stop, _my love_." She said honestly. "But we need to. After what happened, Captain America should not be out of commission because his girlfriend wanted to comfort him," She said with a sad smile. He had seen that smile before.

"Will find a way someday. And if not, if this is all we get, kisses and a little petting, then we will make due with that," He explained his eyes showing nothing but love. She smiled up at him.

'I love you so much.' she thought. He leaned in and kissed her.

"I love you too," He told her as he got off of her.

"Go check on Wanda… she is beating herself up as well," She told him. He nodded to her before giving her one last kiss, leaving her sitting on his bed.

________________________

About 15 minutes later, all hell broke loose. Tony and Secretary Ross had shown up. They all met in a conference room and listened to all the mistakes that the Avengers had made over the past few years. It was quite upsetting to watch. And then the Accords were brought out and the ultimatum was given. Sign, or retire. Think it over. And like that, Secretary Ross was gone.

Rebecca watched in silence as they began to talk it over before they began to argue over it. She watched the lines being drawn, people choosing sides, while Steve just sat there, reading the Accords. She saw both sides of the argument.

She heard Tony argue, about how they needed to be in check before Steve started to argue with Tony. She watched as the only family she had, the only family she ever knew was starting to break up. She was going to have to choose a side and she hated that thought because she knew what side she would choose.

She watched as Steve saw something on his phone, before telling them he had to go, getting everyone's attention. She watched him go, knowing something had upset him, and she quickly followed him, everyone's eyes on her as well. She walked down the steps to see him standing at the bottom of them, emotions clear on his face.

"Steve?" she said quietly, to avoid attention. He looked at her for a second, tears in his eyes. He motioned for her to follow him as he went to her room, the closer of the two. She followed and as soon as the door closed, he pulled her into his arms and cried deeply. She held onto him, allowing him to get his emotions out. She pulled him slowly to her bed, before sitting them both down as he started to get his emotions under control.

"Peggy?" She asked. She knew that the loss of his first love was one of the few things to break him down. He gave her a weak nod as they held onto each other. She moved in and kissed his forehead, sending him a quick message.

'Talk, or do not. Whatever you need. I am here for you.' She felt him nod against her, holding onto her tightly.

In time they moved to lie on the bed, Rebecca using his shoulder as a pillow as he held her close to him. They laid there in comfortable silence as he played with her hair. She felt the playing begin to slow and then stop, as his breathing evened out. She smiled, before slipping out of bed.

She kissed his forehead before she left her room. She found the team, minus Wanda and Vision, still arguing over the Accords. They stopped when they saw her.

"Is he ok?" Natasha asked.

"Peggy died…" She told them.

"He took it hard, didn't he?" Natasha guessed. Rebecca nodded, sitting down on one of the couches, tired. _"You ok?"_ She asked in Russian.

 _"Drained…"_ She said. _"Not every day your family falls apart."_

 _"We have not fallen apart yet,"_ Tony tells her in Russian, sitting next to her.

"You speak Russian… how did I not know that?" Rebecca asked.

"Never came up," He said to her, still nursing his headache. _"I also speak German… and boy do you curse like a sailor…"_ He said in German. She couldn't help but laugh at that.

"English please…" Rhodey said annoyed. She rolled her eyes.

"You think you can get Steve to sign? If anyone can do it, you can." Tony asked her, sincerely.

"Hey… who says she even wants to sign," Sam said, defending her.

"She wants to keep her family together… not signing is going to break us apart," Tony said.

"Can we stop arguing please…" She snaps, rubbing her forehead, her own headache forming. "I did not come back here for that," She told them.

"Why did you come back, kid?" Tony asked her.

"To spend some time with you," She said with a smile. He smiled back at her.

"Come here," He said pulling her into a fatherly hug.

________________________________

She went back to her room after she was done talking with Tony. She found Steve still asleep in her bed. She crawled into bed, next to his warmth. His arms wrapped around her in his sleep and she smiled. It didn't take her long for her to fall asleep in his arms, something she rarely did.

When she came too, she found herself alone in her room. She quickly went to go find him. He was alone in his room, packing.

"You are leaving?" She asked.

"Funeral's tomorrow. The flight leaves in a few hours." He explained.

"I will go pack."

"No… I think I need to do this alone," He told her. She felt her heart break a little at his words.

"If that is what you want. I just figured you wanted me there… for support," she explained, turning to leave.

"Just… feels a little wrong taking you there?" Steve said honestly.

"Why?" She said turning back to face him. "Because you loved her but you moved on with me? Or do you think she would not have approved of us?" She asked.

"No, not at all. I think Peggy would have actually liked you. You don't put up with much crap. You're both quite similar in that aspect." he said with a sad smile.

"Then why?" She asked again. He sighed at that.

"I don't know…" He said honestly.

"Do you want me there?" She asked. He looked right at her.

"No. I don't want you… I need you, and that scares me a little," he admitted.

"That you need me?" She asked with a half smile.

"Yes. I need you more then I realized and I'm scared of what would happen if anything ever happened to you." He admitted to her.

"Nothing is going to happen to me," She told him.

"I thought the same thing about Bucky… Peggy, The Avengers, but now… everything is falling apart," He told her. She moved in, caressing his cheek.

"I am here for you. I am not going anywhere. We have been partners for the last ten months. That's not going to change because of some stupid piece of paper."

"You're not gonna sign, because of me?" He asked, concerned but hopeful at the same time.

"No, not because of you but because you are right. We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own." She told him. He pulled her into a quick kiss before breaking it off just as quick.

"Go pack. Wheels are up in 2 hours," he explained.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How saw Ant-man and the Wasp this weekend? Yeah.... 
> 
> How you're enjoying the story? Let me know! I'm getting close to finishing this story, so updates may get a little faster once I'm done.


	8. Lost Love

'Wheels up' ended up being a private jet, supplied by Tony. They may be in a disagreement but once Tony knew what was going on, he was willing to help his friends. Rebecca sat next to Steve while Sam gave them some space. Steve talked a little bit about Peggy, holding on to Rebecca. She listened, not saying much, just being there for when he needed her. He was thankful for her presence.

After the flight they made their way to the hotel, seeing that Tony had reserved them a suite. They went up and when they walked in, Rebecca marveled at the size of it.

"Wow, He went all out. We do not need this..." She said.

"He mentioned something about making sure you had plenty of room," Steve said.

"Why me?" She asked. Steve gave her a half smile.

"He may have seen me sneaking out of your room…" Steve confessed. She let out a laugh.

"Always the papa bear," She said. The three of them headed to their separate rooms, sleep on Rebecca's mind. Rebecca had enough time to drop her stuff off when she heard the door to her room open and close. She knew who was visiting her. She felt his arms wrap around her waist, his lips brushing her neck for just a second.

"Steve," she said softly. She turned within his arms, facing him. His lips crashed onto hers, kissing her with more passion than he had in a while, and she quite enjoyed it. She willingly fell as he pushed her onto the bed. He laid on top of her as she let him take control.

'Let's take this as far as we can, Becca,' she heard him. She felt how much he wanted to be with her, seeking comfort in a sea of emotions he didn't want to process. She wanted to give him that comfort, but not like this, not in the rush of emotions he was feeling for another.

He had been slowly building a resistance to her power and his recovery time had been slowly getting faster as well. But she was also worried they would push it too far, that she would hurt him… or worse.

'I can handle it,' she heard him say. She felt the kisses move down her neck as his hands explored her body through her clothes, making her moan out his name.

She could see a flood of images from his mind, of what he wanted to do to her. She couldn't help but get more aroused by them but she could still feel the depression of his lost between those memories, the sadness that was still washing over him.

'I know you can,' She said, before pulling back, to Steve's disappointment. "And I am willing to try," She told him. "Just not tonight. If you still want to tomorrow… after the funeral, we can." She offered him.

She could see the dissatisfaction in his eyes, but also the understanding. She caressed his cheek. "I do not want you to regret being with me and tonight… you might," she added.

"I would never regret being with you," he told her. She smiled at him.

"Tomorrow then," She said. He nodded before laying down next to her, pulling her into his arms. They both quickly fell asleep.

She woke up at the feeling of him getting out of bed. She looked up at him with a small smile.

"Hey," She said, getting his attention. "I could get used to waking up like this," She told him. He smiled down at her.

"I could too," He said before losing the smile. "We need to get dressed," He told her. She nodded to him as he left, getting ready for the funeral.

________________________

The funeral went as expected. Steve was a pallbearer, doing his duty for his fallen girl. When he was done, he sat with her and Sam. Steve held her hand throughout the service. When Sharon came to talk, Rebecca noticed Steve's attention change at her presence. It made Rebecca curious but she knew he would explain it later.

Sharon started to talk about Peggy and how she made it in her world. Sharon looked directly at Steve before she quoted Peggy.

"Compromise when you can. Where you can't, don't. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move. It is your duty, to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye and say, 'No...you move.'"

Rebecca smiled before she leaned into Steve's ear. "See, even Peggy believes you are doing the right thing," she said. She felt his hand tightened around hers as the rest of the service continued.

Once the service was over, Steve didn't want to leave. Rebecca understood this, standing in the back of the church, giving Steve the space he needed to grieve but close enough in case he needed her.

Rebecca saw as Natasha came and talked to Steve. Rebecca knew she was trying to convince him to sign, but Rebecca knew that he never would, especially after Sharon's speech. She watched as they hugged before Natasha came over to her to talk to her as well.

 _"You signing?"_ She asked in Russian. Rebecca shook her head no. Natasha looked at Steve.

 _"Because of him?"_ She asked.

"No… because it is what I want to do," She explained in English. "What was one of the first things you promised me when I joined The Avengers?" She asked Natasha. Natasha sighed at that.

"That we wouldn't let anyone else control you like HYDRA did. But this is different."

"Is it really?" She asked.

"I think it is. It's what needs to be done."

"Maybe for you, but I am good with not signing."

"Ok…" She said giving her a hug as well, whispering into her ear. _"Keep yourselves safe,"_ Natasha told her.

_"We will."_

_"Take care of him."_

_"You know I will,"_ Rebecca responded. Natasha let her go before leaving.

________________________

After they left the cathedral, they went to Peggy's burial, a private affair, with just close friends and family. Rebecca stood beside him, hand in his, as he said his final goodbyes. Once it was over, Sharon came over to talk to Steve.

"That was quite a secret you kept from me," He said with a sad smile.

"Yes, it was a secret I kept from most," Sharon explained. She looked at Rebecca with a smile. "And you must be Rebecca, nice to meet you," She said, offering her hand. Rebecca took it in her gloved hand and shook it.

"Nice to meet you too," She said looking between her and Steve. "You two know each other I am guessing," She asked. Sharron nodded.

"She used to spy on me for S.H.I.E.L.D.," Steve explained.

"Doing my job. I was assigned to play his neighbor, when he first came out of the ice, to make sure he was ok, that he was adjusting to life, things like that." She explained.

"And with Steve being Steve, I am sure you became friends," Rebecca said with a smile. Sharon smiled, giving a quick look at Steve.

"Something like that," she said. Rebecca saw the slight blush on Steve's neck and something clicked.

"Are you two ex's?" Rebecca asked. She watched as the blush quickly spread on Steve and Sharon let out a full-on laugh.

"Never got the chance. And I guess I never will," She said, looking at Rebecca. "I'm glad you're happy," She told Steve.

"Yes… I really am," He said, moving to squeeze Rebecca's hand.

"It was nice seeing you," Sharon said as she started to walk away.

"Invite her to lunch," Rebecca said, quietly. Steve looked at her a little surprise before Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Sharon," She called out. Sharon turned back to them. "We were thinking of going to get a bite to eat, would you like to join us? It would give you two some time to catch up… talk about Peggy," She offered.

"You sure? I don't want to intrude," She told her.

"I would not have offered if I was not." She told Sharon. Sharron smiled at that.

"Ok...let's go," She said as the three of them went to a corner cafe to have lunch. Rebecca was quiet for the most part, listening to the two friends talk about their mutual acquaintance. A little after they were done eating, Rebecca spoke up.

"I am going to head back to the hotel, Steve," She said, about to get up.

"Ok, we can head back," He offered her.

"No, I am fine. You spend time with your friend," She said as she stood up. Steve stood as well.

"Are you sure?" He asked her. She let out a chuckle.

"I would not have offered if I was not," she said. Then he did something that she thought he never would do. He kissed her on her forehead, a small but still a public display of affection.

'Are you really sure?' he asked her again. She could sense his nervousness and his worry for her. She laughed.

'I am not jealous… I trust you with everything Steve. I don't care if you had a past, I know that it will stay there," She explained before pulling back.

"Nice meeting you," She told Sharron before she walked away, leaving the two friends to talk.

___________________________

She went back to the hotel, heading to the elevator, when she noticed that Sam was sitting in the hotel bar, nursing a drink. She decided she would join him, walking up to him.

"Is this seat taken?" She asked. He turned to look at her with a smile.

"I was saving it for a pretty lady, but I guess you'll have to do," He joked. She chuckled and sat down, ordering herself a fruity drink.

"Didn't think those worked on you?" he asked. She huffed.

"It does not but I can still enjoy the taste." She said with a smile.

"How's Cap?" He asked.

"Talking with Sharon. I wanted to give them some time to talk, without me," She told him.

"That was nice of you. Most girlfriends wouldn't be able to do that."

"I am not like most people. Even if I did not trust him as much as I do, I could always kill him if he betrays me," She said with a straight face, causing a look from Sam before she started to smile. They both busted out laughing.

"Note to self, don't piss you off," He said with another laugh. She got her drink and drank a little bit with a sigh.

"So.. you and Cap getting serious?" He asked. She turned to look at him.

"And why are you asking?"

"Well, he spent the last two nights in your bed…"

"So? It is not like we could do anything without me killing him," She said with a sigh.

"Well, he told me he has built up a resistance to your power, or something like that."

"He told you that!" She said a little shocked.

"Well, he wasn't telling me about that in this context. It was more in the professional context but I figured you could use it to your advantage," he said. She started to blush at that. "Hey, sorry. Didn't mean to embarrass you or anything. Just curious. Like do I need to give you two some privacy tonight…"

"No…. it is ok. We are fine," She said, blushing fully now before downing the rest of her drink in one full gulp. Sometimes she wished she could have more than a light buzz from this stuff.

They sat in silence for a bit. Then she looked up at the TV as it changed to a Special Alert. Her eyes went wide when she saw the words go across the screen. 'Vienna, Explosion, United Nations.'

"Oh god…" She said just a Sam saw the same thing.

"We need to get Steve," He said. She picked up her phone, ready to give him a call when Sam noticed him walking into the hotel.

"He's here," Sam said as they both went over to him.

"Steve. There's something you gotta see," Sam told him as Rebecca ushered them into the opening elevator. She hit the floor they were staying on without even thinking.

"What happened?" Steve asked.

"There was a bombing… Vienna," Rebecca said. They quickly made it to their suite and turned on the news. Sharon quickly got on the phone, talking to her bosses. When they heard the newscaster say 'James Buchanan Barnes' Rebecca couldn't help but let out a gasp at that. She knew one day she was going to have to face her father, but why did it have to be today out of all days.

"I have to go to work," Sharon said as she hung up the phone. Steve nodded in understanding.

"You need a ride?" She asked, knowing he would want to go. He nodded. "You have 15 minutes before I'm leaving. You have that long to get to the lobby," She said before she left. Steve turned to Rebecca who was still looking at the TV in shock.

"Stay here, you don't need to go," he told her. She shook her head.

"I am going," She told him. "No arguing, we do not have time," She said as they went to pack.


	9. A Daughters Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Father and Daugther reunite.

As they flew to Vienna, Steve sits next to Rebecca on the plane, wanting to talk to her.

"I want you to stay out of this, Becca," he whispered to her, not wanting Sam and Sharon to hear.

"Why?" She whispered back.

"You know why…"

"Because it's Bucky?" She asked.

"Because it's your father. You shouldn't have to do this…" he pleaded to her. She turned and looked at him, right in the eye.

"Neither should you. He may be my father but he's your best friend. I am your partner. My place is by your side Steve, not on the sidelines." She said.

"I… don't want to see you get hurt," He admitted. "Not by his hands again…" he told her, feeling his eyes water.

"I will be fine…" She promised him. "He can not hurt me like that anymore." Their eyes met and he leaned in, to kiss her passionately, even with his audience. He didn't care at the moment. He needed this and she enjoyed his lips on hers. When they broke away, Steve pulled her closer to him, letting her rest on his chest. Steve looked across the way at Sam and he gave Steve a look of approval. Steve rolled his eyes.

They quickly made it to Vienna, before doing the recon of the blast site. When Sharon tipped them off, they quickly made their way to Bucharest to where Bucky most likely was.

_______________________________ 

Rebecca looked from her vantage point on a nearby building, being able to see the apartment windows as well as Sam. She figured Steve wanted her there because it was farthest away, but she was thankful for the kiss he gave her before leaving her, giving her the extra boost she was used to.

She couldn't see into the apartment but she could hear the interaction between Steve and Bucky. She could see the police start to close in on them as she and Sam gave Steve warnings. She heard the fighting before she saw the backpack, flying out of the window. She knew where Bucky was heading. She calculated what she would have to do before she quickly made the climb and jumped to land on the roof where the bag landed.

When she saw him jump from the building, she was ready for him. She ran to him, as he landed, and was on him in a second, grabbing his hand with her bare hand, trying to incapacitate him quickly. She had a second to hear a grunt of pain as her powers worked on him before they both felt the impact of a third person hitting them, knocking her away from Bucky.

She looked up to see Bucky and a man dressed completely in a black cat costume, start to fight. She knew she had to help him, this man was out for blood. She joined in with the fight, trying to attack him, sending kicks and punches his way, while Bucky did the same. He was strong… just as strong as the two of them.

'Shit, another super soldier,' she thought before grabbing one of the guns from her thigh holsters. She shot at him from point-blank range, watching in horror as they bounced right off. He slashed at her gun, slicing it in half before his other hand went to slash at her arm, slicing right through the kevlar of her suit, leaving four bloody cuts on her bicep.

She recoiled in pain, before seeing the helicopter, getting out of the way before the hail of bullets. Sam kicks the Helicopter tail, causing it to crash. She noticed that Steve was on the roof now. He sees that she is hurt, as Bucky and the man in black jumps off the roof.

"Stand down!" He yells at her before he follows them off the roof. She goes to the edge of the roof and watches were they are going. She looks around from her vantage point for a moment before seeing her means of escape.

She jumps, grabbing onto a pipe about halfway down, to slow her descent. She lets out a gasp of pain at the strain it causes her injured arm. She hits the ground running, running right into traffic, right at a passing motorcycle. The driver stops right in front of her, shocked by her actions. She smiled and quickly took his bike, to catch up with her comrades.

"I can't shake this guy," She hears Steve say over the coms as she weaves between the cars, to quickly catch up to them.

"Right behind you, But so is Rebecca…" Sam said, giving away her secret.

"I told you to stand down," Steve bites out. She hit her Coms.

"Sue me.." She said as she battled the cars to catch up.

She got there in time to see the man in black jump onto Bucky's motorcycle. Bucky threw him off, before Steve and then Rebecca nearly missed running over him. She hears Sam start to catch up, before she sees the explosion in front of her, sending her skittering to a stop as Bucky, Steve and the man in black were sent flying forward into the street before them, while she avoided falling debris with Sam.

Then they were surrounded and quickly arrested. They were taken to a detention center nearby where they were given clothes and their weapons and costumes were quickly taken from them. Bucky was shoved into a box and they were shoved into a prison van, on their way to Berlin.

They sat Sam in the back, the Wakandan king in the front and to her surprise, they sat her next to Steve, leaving the space between. She didn't wait long before she slipped one of the gloves she was given to wear off, when the guards were distracted, put it between them. Steve saw the gesture before he ignored it, looking out his window. She took it for what it was, anger for not listening to him. She put her glove back on and looked out her own window. The rest of the trip was made in near silence.

_______________________________ 

Steve refused to talk to Rebecca as they were shown to their 'office'. Steve and Tony talked. Tony was trying to get Steve to sign, but Steve refuses, before leaving the conference room. Tony had noticed the cold shoulder that Steve was giving Rebecca so he decided to approach her as well.

She was sitting alone, in the hall, away from most people. He sat next to her.

"Hey, kid. How have you been?"

"I am fine, Tony," she said.

"You and Cap have a falling out?" He asked. She looked away from him.

"Don't really want to talk about it," She told him.

"Fair enough. Cap still refuses to sign… I was hoping you would be a little more reasonable," He told her.

"And why is that?" She asked him.

"Because you're a smart woman. You gotta know this is the best outcome to a bad situation."

"I can not…" She told him.

"Why… because of him? Because he's refusing? Are you gonna blindly follow him?" He asked her. She looked at him angrily.

"No. I am not doing this because of him."

"Sure looks like it. I've always hated how close you've two have gotten. It seems like everytime I visit, you act more and more like him. Like you're not just taking on his powers, but his personality as well…"

"Is that what you take me for… a mindless drone?" She asked him.

"If the shoe fits…" He said before receiving an anger filled slap, sending his head reeling. Tony saw someone approached them, but he waved them off.

"You are such a self-centered ass sometimes. Can not even see past the fact that we are together, to remember where I was before The Avengers… When I really was that mindless drone you think I am. Where I was controlled and forced to do things I knew were wrong because if I did not obey, I was dead. I do not ever want to be controlled again. Ever. Not by you, not by him, not by the UN.

"I may love him, but I would never follow him unless I believed in what he was doing. I follow him because he is doing what I think is right. Because he was going to help my father. Because I wanted to see if we could find the man behind the monster that HYDRA made him." She vented out to Tony before she got up, leaving him.

She went back into the conference room, seeing Steve and Sam, before finding a seat. Steve refused to look at her. He was looking at the silent screens, the screens that had Bucky on them. She watched as Sharon joined them before she gave them access to the audio. Rebecca smiled at the woman, giving her a silent thank you.

They listened to the evaluation on Bucky before the power got knocked out. Sharon told them where Bucky was and Rebecca watched as Sam and Steve ran off. When she heard the alarm, she quickly followed Sharon, Natasha, and Tony.

They quickly found Bucky and one by one they fought against him, before getting their asses handed to them. Only her and T'Challa had to strength to keep up with him, fighting and following him through the compound. She tried to talk to him, reason with him, but he grabs her by the neck choking her. T'Challa kicks him in the face, getting him off her. She gasps in a breath, as she sees T'Challa and Bucky fight. Bucky knocks him off and runs off before T'Challa could see where he went, but Rebecca saw. She quickly followed him, as he made it to the roof.

She came out the open door just in time to see him getting into the helicopter. She also noticed the movement to the side, of Steve running to the helicopter as well, grabbing it before it took off. She runs to him, grabbing on to it as well, keeping it from taking off. Bucky crashed the helicopter and they both nearly avoid injury. Once the dust settles, he looked up, looked over to her.

"You ok?" He asked.

"Yes…" She said. He smiled before a metal arm came crashing out of the helicopter, wrapping around Steve's neck.

"Steve!" She screamed as she tried to pull Bucky off him. She felt the helicopter start to tip over, and she had a split decision to either hold on or let go. She lets go, watching as Steve and Bucky went over the edge, into the water. She looked down at it, in horror. She waited to see if there were any signs of life. It was the longest minute of her life before she saw Steve come up, with Bucky in his arms. She looked around before making the choice to join him. She dived into the water, to help Steve get Bucky to safety. By the time they fished him out of the water, Sam had found them, with a van he 'borrowed', before they made their getaway.

_______________________________ 

They found an old rundown garage and got Bucky inside without anyone seeing them. They got Bucky setup in a vice, not sure who was going to wake up. Steve walked around making sure the place was completely secure.

"Are you ever going to talk to me?" He heard Rebecca say. He turned to look at her. He could see bruising on her neck from her fight with the Winter Soldier.

"He hurt you again…" He said softly.

"Steve… I am ok. I am a lot tougher than I look," She told him, making him smile. "You done being mad?" She asked.

"Yes. Part of me wishes you had listened, but… I'm glad you're here," He said, leaning in and kissing her forehead.

"Hey, Cap!" they heard Sam say. They went over and saw that Bucky was waking up.

"Steve," Bucky said softly.

"Which Bucky am I talking to?" Steve asked.

"Your mom's name was Sarah. You used to wear newspapers in your shoes." He said with a light chuckle.

"Can't read that in a museum," Steve said with a smile.

"Just like that, we're supposed to be cool?" Sam said.

"What did I do?" Bucky asked.

"Enough," Steve said.

Rebecca watched as Steve released Bucky. She listened in silence as Bucky told them about Siberia:

About where he was kept.

About the other Winter Soldiers.

About fighting them and seeing how powerful they were.

About how much damage they could do and what Zemo could do with them.

She watched as Steve and Sam walked off, whispering, planning, doing what they do best.

"I'm sorry," She heard Bucky say. She looked at him strangely.

"For what?"

"For what I did…My memories are a little jumbled, but I can remember you. For what I did now and for what they made me do to you when you were a kid…"

"I was not a kid, I was 16," she corrected.

"You were a kid…" He said, looking at her, with pain in his eyes at the memories. "I'm sorry," He repeated.

She was mad at his apology and she wasn't sure why. Maybe she was feeling like Sam, that it's hard to be 'just cool' after everything. She thought of making him re-live her pain, from her side, for a moment. To make him suffer like she had, but looking at him, seeing the pain on his face, all the memories of what he had done under HYDRA weighting down on him, she knew he had been through enough suffering. More than enough. It broke her heart, causing her anger to evaporate. She walked over to him, before removing a glove.

"Becca…" She heard Steve warn, before she put her fingers to Bucky's forehead, sending him one of her memories, the one she thought might bring him the most comfort as it always did her.

Bucky was looking up at a woman. Her strawberry blond hair framing her face as she looked down with kind eyes. She smiled as she sung a Russian lullaby to the scared six-year-old in her arms. He could feel the nightmare that plagued her slip away as she felt nothing but comfort in the arms of her mother.

"Izabella…" Bucky said, shock in his eyes, as the memory slipped away. He looked up at Rebecca then, really looking at her.

"Was that your memory?" He asked her. She nodded.

"You're Izabella's daughter…" He said softly before it really hit him. "My daughter…" He said, shocked. Then the memories of what he did to her had new meaning for him. "Oh god, I'm so sorry," He said, nearly in tears. She moved in, taking him into her arms. She sat on the floor, holding him as he cried.

"What did you do?" Steve asked. She ignored him, starting to sing the same Russian lullaby to Bucky. It didn't take long before it started to calm him down, comforting him. He looked up at her as his tears began to clear.

"She used to sing that to me… when the memories got too much," He told her, with a sad smile. She smiled back.

"I am glad it could calm you. I am sorry… I didn't mean to upset you that much…"

"It's fine… I deserve much worse," he explained.

"Rebecca, we could have done the family reunion thing later…" Steve chastised a little, offering his hand to help them both up off the floor.

"You knew?" Bucky asked.

"I've known for a while… I'm the one who had to tell her who her father was," He told Bucky.

"Glad it was someone who knew me as more than a monster," He told Steve.

"So… my mother's name was Izabella?" She asked Bucky, trying to change the atmosphere of the room.

"Yes… I guess she called herself something else," Bucky said.

"Emma… I guess that makes sense, she was trying to hide," she said with a smile. He chuckled.

"You have her smile," Bucky said, moving his hand to touch her cheek, when she backed off, not letting him touch her. "What did I do?" He asked backing off as well.

"You can't touch her Buck… not without warning her first," Steve explained. "HYDRA did some experiments with her, enhanced her with some powers…" Steve explained. Rebecca walked off, not wanting to hear. Bucky looked confused for a second, racking his brain for something.

"Absorption, I believe… sorry, I forgot," He explained.

"Yeah," Steve said. "Give me a second." He said, walking over to were Rebecca had retreated too.

"You ok?" he asked. She huffed.

"I will be ok," She said, lying. He allowed he lie.

"Sam's calling some friends, getting a group together. We need as much help as we can get against the other Winter Soldiers." He said before sighing. "If I asked you to stay out of it, I don't think you would listen."

"I am in this, until the end, Steve." She promised him. "For you… for him," She said. He looked at her and shook his head with a smile.

"You're just as stubborn as me…" He said, pulling her into his arms, kissing the top of her head. "I just want to keep you safe," He whispered to her.

"And I want the same for you," She whispered back. "Because I love you…" She told him.

"God, you deserve better than an old soldier like me, but I can't help but love you too," He told her.

"And can someone explain this to me?" They heard Bucky say to them. She was wrapped in Steve's arms. Steve backed off her a little, looking sheepish.

"Um, we are kind of together," Steve told Bucky. Bucky just looked at them, with stern eyes.

"I figured you could have done better for yourself," He said, addressing his daughter. Bucky broke a smile before Rebecca and he let out a laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost done with this story. Looking to be about 22ish chapters once everything said and done. Hoping to posting more next week. Leave a comment to give me some encouragement to finish up!


	10. Daddy’s Little Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Bucky have a talk. And the Airport Scene!

_"I figured you could have done better for yourself," He said, addressing his daughter. Bucky broke a smile before Rebecca and he let out a laugh._

 

________________________________

Sam walked in, seeing Bucky and Rebecca laughing.

“I don’t want to know…” He said shaking his head, looking at Steve. “Calls made. Clint’s picking up Wanda and Tic Tac. They will be here within the day. We also need to get our gear back,” Sam said.

“I’ll work on that,” Steve said before pulling out his phone. He talked to Sharon, planning for a rendezvous tomorrow.

“Let’s find a place to bunk for the night…” Steve said, noticing how tired Bucky was.

“I think I saw a truck out back we can borrow for the night,” Rebecca said. Steve nodded before sending Sam to get it. They found their way to a seedy motel on the outskirts of town, a place that wouldn’t ask any questions. They decided for safety, on one double room to stay close.

“Bucky and Sam have that bed,” He said, pointing to the furthest in. “Rebecca and I will take the other,” Steve finished, as they entered the room. He knew it might be a moot point. He wasn’t sure how much sleep any of them would really get.

“Is that because you two are an item?” Bucky asked. Rebecca couldn’t help but feel amused by the fatherly concern that Bucky was showing her.

“No… It’s because I won't die if she accidentally touches me in her sleep…” He told Bucky as he dropped their bags on the bed. Bucky gave her a cautionary glance. She smirked, trying to hold back a laugh.

“And why won't she kill you?” He asked, confused, as he moved to sit on the bed.

“Cap’s kind of built up a resistance to her powers…” Sam explained, looking out the window.

“We’re partners, Buck… she absorbs my strength, daily. After so much time, my body has built up a tolerance to it. I’ve been recovering faster from the side effects. It’s even starting to get harder for her to absorb me. She used to have to hold back her powers on me, so she wouldn’t hurt me. She doesn't have to do that anymore…”

“If Steve ever went off the deep end… and they asked me to take him down with my full strength, I do not think I would even slow him down…” she said honestly. She gave Steve a kiss on the cheek before going to the bathroom. “I got dibs on the shower, I still got river in places I should not,” she said before closing the door. Steve suppressed a laugh.

“That’s nice to know… better not go off the deep end there, buddy,” Sam joked, causing Steve to chuckle.

“So how long has that been going on?” Bucky asked Steve, pointing to Steve and then the bathroom door.

“Us? Being partners?” Steve asked as he sat on the other bed, across from Bucky.

“You being together?” He clarified. Steve let out a breath.

“Since about two seconds after he rescued her,” Sam said with a smile, turning away from the window. Steve gave Sam a glare and Sam took the hint.

“I’ll see if I can go find us some food,” Sam said, putting on his hat and sunglasses before he left.

“So… you got her out of that place?” Bucky asked. Steve sighed.

“Yes. About 11 months ago.” Steve told him. Bucky paled at that.

“She was with them for that long…” Bucky breathed out.

“She was their weapon,” Steve explained. Bucky rubbed his hand over his face.

“What did they make her do?” He asked feeling devastated.

“Some terrible things. You should know more than most. But she also fought against them, so they kept her in line with a bomb in her neck. She was their soldier.”

“Daddy’s little girl…” Bucky said, closing his eyes to keep the tears at bay. Steve paused, not sure if he should continue until he saw Bucky give him a nod.

“We attacked the HYDRA base she was at. They sent her after us. She grabbed me, draining my powers, but when she uses her powers she can form a mental link with that person…” He said, looking at the bathroom door. “She saw something in me. She saw she could trust me. She showed me what they were doing to her, so we helped her escape.” Steve said shaking his head, looking back at Bucky.

“After we rescued her, she wouldn’t let me out of her sight. That link showed her what kind of person I was. She knew without a doubt she could trust me. The first person in her life she could trust since her mother.” Steve paused for a moment.

“I knew where she came from. I knew what they did to her and after that, I wanted to protect her. To see that no one used her like that again.” Steve explained. “I don’t know if it was her powers or something else… “ He shrugged. “We were comfortable around each other… things kind of happened…”

“I don’t need the details…” Bucky said honestly. Steve nodded. “What happened to Izabella?” Bucky asked. Steve closed his eyes, not wanting to tell him. “Tell me the truth…”

“Dead, HYDRA killed her when they took Rebecca,” Steve explained. A single tear slipped down Bucky’s cheek.

“How old was she...when they took her?” Bucky asked.

“Eight…” Steve told him.

“Son of a bitch…” Bucky growled out. “She was with them for 13 fucking years.” Steve nodded. Bucky got up from the bed, pacing, trying to get his anger under control.

“Maybe we should stop for the night,” Steve said.

“How long have you known I’m her father?” Bucky asked, answering Steve’s question. Steve paused for a moment.

“A few weeks after we rescued her. About the time we got together…” Steve admitted.

“And you're still sleeping with her, knowing she’s my child?” Bucky bit out. He was angry at the situation. About everything he couldn’t control. He wasn't sure what to make of his best friend and his daughter together.

“She’s not a child!” Steve snapped back before taking a breath, calming down. “And I haven’t slept with her, Bucky. Her powers make it hard for her… to do much...”

“I thought you were resistant to her powers….” Bucky asked.

“Not enough for her. She’s worried she’ll kill me,” Steve said. “Kind of a mood killer.” Bucky looked at him, processing the information. He sighed, sitting back down on the bed.

“Do you love her?” He asked.

“Yes… Yes, I do,” Steve said without any hesitation.

“Still… kind of hard to wrap my head around you two…” Bucky said, honestly.

“Hopefully you’ll with time… because she’s not someone I willing to give up… not even for you,” Steve told him. Bucky looked at him, seeing the sincerity and determination in Steve’s eyes.

“I guess she found a good man…” Bucky said with a half smile.

 

_______________________________

The next morning Steve found them another getaway car, a VW Beetle. Rebecca got into the back with Bucky while Steve and Sam sat up front. They made their way to the rendezvous point with Sharon. Steve went to talk to her, while the rest of them waited in the car.

“Can you move your seat up?” Bucky asked, uncomfortable in such a small vehicle.

“No,” Sam said. Rebecca rolled her eyes before she kicked the back of the seat. Sam huffed out before he moved the seat up just an inch. Bucky gave Rebecca a curious look and she shrugged.

They watched as Sharon and Steve talked to each other. Sharon opens the trunk, revealing their equipment. Steve gave her a hug before he grabbed the gear, putting in their car before they both drove off.

They made their way to the airport, meeting up with a van. They got out of the bug as Clint got out of the Van.

“Cap…” Clint said.

“You know I wouldn't have called If I had any other choice,“ Steve said to Clint, shaking his hand.

“Hey man, you're doing me a favor,” Clint said, sending a quick look to Wanda. “Besides, I owe a debt.”

“Thanks for having my back,” Steve said to Wanda. She sent a look to Clint

“It was time to get off my ass,” Wanda said. Rebecca moved to Wanda, giving her a hug.

“I am glad you got off your ass,” Rebecca told her. Wanda smiled at her.

They watched as Mr. Lang fanboyed all over Steve. Rebecca had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Then they heard the alarms start going off.

“They are evacuating…” She said along with Bucky.

“Stark,” Sam said.

“Stark?” Lang asked.

“Suit up!” Steve said. They all quickly got dressed as Steve, Bucky, Clint, and Sam planned their mode of attack. She put on her suit, scratch marks on the arm of the suit, her white bandage peeking through them. She didn’t like the way it looked but it was still a safer bet than civilian clothes. Once they were ready, they all gathered around Steve to listen to the plan.

“I’m gonna walk straight in, and get their attention. Rebecca, I want you to stick with Bucky and Sam in the terminal, Clint you and Wanda in the parking garage. Recon, find their quinjet. And Lang, you can catch a ride with me,” Steve told them, giving them their assignments. Wanda and Clint went off.

Steve turned to Rebecca looking right at her before saying. “Bucky… Sam, please keep her safe,” He asked his friends.

“Will do,” he heard them both say, before he leaned in, giving her a kiss. She could hear Bucky start to say something before Sam stopped him.

“You’ll get used to it…” Sam said. They broke the kiss and she looked at him.

“You keep yourself safe.” She told him, kissing him one last time before she ran off with Sam and Bucky.

“Was that really necessary?” Bucky asked.

“Actually it was. Steve gave me a power boost,” She said with a smile.

“There are other ways to make skin contact,” Bucky argued.

“Yes… but not as much fun,” she explained. Bucky rolled his eyes.

“It’s gonna take me a while to get used to you two…” He admitted quietly as they got into position.

“Do not take too long… I will get tired of those fatherly disapproving looks,” She said as she pulled out binoculars, looking around from their vantage point as Sam sent out Red Wing.

“Isn’t that my job…” Bucky argued back.

“Not on this current mission,” Sam said as they searched. “Got you…” Sam said before he hit his coms.

“We found it. Their quinjet's in hanger five, north runway,” Sam said. They got up and started to run down the terminal, trying to get to the quinjet as fast as they could.

They heard a noise outside and they all turned to the window, seeing a man in a red and blue suit.

“What the hell is that?” Bucky asked, shocked.

“Everyone’s got a gimmick now,” Sam said as they ran. The web crawler smashed through the window, kicking Sam backward. Bucky through a punch but the web-crawler caught his fist.

“You’ve got a metal arm?” He asked as Rebecca kicked him, knocking him off Bucky.

“Lady!” The boy said before Sam flew in, grabbing him and flying off with him.

The boy and Sam fought in mid-flight before Sam let him go. Bucky and Rebecca took cover behind some pillars. As Sam and the web-slinger fought, Bucky threw something at him, and the web-slinger threw it right back, nearly taking out the pillar.

“Damn that kid is strong…” Rebecca said before hitting her comms. “Sam, if you can get him close to me, I can take him out,” Rebecca said.

“Easier said than done, Becs,” Sam said. The web-slinger sent some webbing, catching Sam’s suit, sending him crashing to the floor. The Webslinger web’s Sam’s wrist to the balcony railing.

“Those wings carbon fiber?” he asked, hanging on a pillar.

“Is this stuff coming out of you?” Sam asked.

“That would explain the rigidity-flexibility ratio, which, gotta say, that's awesome, man,” The web-slinger admired.

“I don't know if you've been a fight before but there's usually not this much talking.”

“Alright, sorry, my bad!” The Webslinger sent some webbing out, swinging down at Sam as Bucky jumps in front of Sam, causing the Webslinger to push both Bucky and Sam through the glass railing, down onto the next floor. The web-slinger webs them to the floor. Rebecca, who was still hiding, tries to get close to the spider thing before Red Wing comes in, dragging him off.

“You couldn't have done that earlier?” Bucky grumbles.

“ I hate you,” Sam says.

“We can work on your issues later, boys,” She said, jumping down to them, pulling out a knife and cutting them free. They quickly made it out of the terminal. They ran as fast as they could, quickly meeting up with the rest of their group. They were running to the quinjet, almost scot-free when Visions laser, drawing a line in the ground stopped them.

“Captain Rogers. I know you believe what you're doing is right. But for the collective good, you must surrender now.” He said as the rest of Tony’s team assembled.

“What do we do Cap?” Sam asked. Rebecca looked between Steve and Bucky. They were ready for this.

“We fight,” She heard Steve say. They started to walk, then run to the other team. She saw Tony go for Steve but she decided to help Bucky against the Black Panther. They tag teamed him, trading punches and blows with the skilled fighter. Bucky got the Black Panther by the throat.

“I didn’t kill your father…” He told him.

“Then why did you run?” He asked. Before pushing Bucky off him.

“Because he’s innocent, _dip shit_ ,” Rebecca said, trading blows with the man, before Wanda sent him flying. She nodded to her friend before helping Bucky up. They watch Steve take out the web-crawler before meeting up with the two of them, hiding behind some crates.

“We gotta go. That guy's probably in Siberia by now,” Bucky told Steve

“We gotta draw out the flyers. I'll take Vision. You get to the jet,” Steve said.

“No, you three get to the jet! The rest of us aren't getting out of here,” They heard Sam say.

“As much as I hate to admit it, if we're gonna win this one, some of us might have to lose it,” Clint told them

“This isn't the real fight, Steve,” Sam said. Steve looked at Bucky and Rebecca

“Alright, Sam, what's the play?” Steve asked.

“We need a diversion, something big,” Sam said.

“I got something kind of big, but I can't hold it very long. On my signal, run like hell. And if I tear myself in half… don't come back for me,” Scott said. They looked at each other confused.

“He's gonna tear himself in half?” Bucky said, mildly concerned.

“You're sure about this, Scott?” Steve asked.

“I do it all the time. I mean once… in a lab. Then I passed out. I'm the boss. I'm the boss. I'm the boss. I'm the boss. I'm the BOSS!” They heard him say. After a moment they watched as Ant-Man grew into a giant, grabbing War Machine's leg.

“I’m guessing that’s the signal,” Rebecca said as they waited until everyone was distracted before making a run for the quinjet.

Steve saw Vision take down the control tower but Wanda uses her powers to keep it from collapsing. They all three push themselves to run as fast as they can before Wanda got distracted and let go of the watchtower. They all try pushing passed it, as it began to collapse on them. Bucky and Steve made it through, but Rebecca wasn’t fast enough as it collapsed on her, trapping her under some of the rubble. Steve sees Natasha holding up her widow's bite and stops, before noticing that Rebecca wasn’t there.

“Nat… Rebecca…” He pleads. She takes a breath.

“I’m gonna regret this,” She said before discharging her weapon, stunning Black Panther. “Go, I’ll make sure she’s safe,” Steve hesitates for a moment before Bucky grabs him, pulling him to the quinjet.

“She’s strong… your friends will help her. We have to go… now!” Bucky said. It took all of Steve's willpower not to go back and help her.

Natasha stuns Black Panther again as they made their way into the quinjet, powering it up. She watched as Rebecca started to make her way out of the rubble. Rebecca jumped on the Black Panther, keeping him away from the quinjet, and Steve was thankful to see her one last time before he flew off. She closed her eyes and thought really hard.

‘Good luck and take care,” She sent to him. He smiled as they went off to Siberia.

“You ok?” Natasha asked her.

“Yes,” Rebecca said, with a smile.


	11. Prison Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rebecca's time on The Raft.

All of team Captain America that didn’t make it to the quinjet were quickly arrested and sent to a prison called the Raft. Rebecca watched as they put a collar on Wanda, restricting her powers. Rebecca was sure the same was going to happen to her. Ross came up to her but still kept his distance.

“We haven’t found the right technology to dampen your powers yet… but we are working on it if you give us any trouble... “ He warned her.

“You can just keep your distance…” She offered them. She could tell he didn’t like that answer. They pushed her into a room, where they made her give up her outfit, before giving her a prison uniform, one with long sleeves, as well as gloves. She was thankful for them, she always felt naked without them.

Once she was dressed, they put her in a cell, right next to Sam. She looked around, not seeing Wanda. She wondered why they put her in with the guys when Wanda was clearly separated from the group. She looked around, seeing cameras.

“Are they hoping I would talk with Sam?’ She thought. Maybe. She sighed before laying down on the bed, drained, the last 2 days had been a nonstop mess. A real shit show but she hoped it was all worth it. She hoped that Steve and Bucky made it in time to stop the other Winter Soldiers.

She had been there for only a few hours. Ross had come by a few times, trying to get them to talk, without much luck. Rebecca ignored the door as it opened again but someone’s clapping got her attention.

“The Futurist, gentlemen! The Futurist is here! He sees all! He knows what's best for you, whether you're like it or not,” She heard Clint say, going to the bars, seeing Tony.

“Give me a break, Barton. I had no idea they'll put you here. Come on,” Tony explained.

“Yeah, well, you knew they'd put us somewhere, Tony.”

“Yeah, but not some super-max floating ocean pokey. You know, this place is for maniacs. This is a place for…”

“Criminals? Criminals, Tony. Think that's the word you're looking for. Right? That didn't used to mean me. Or Sam, or Wanda, or Rebecca. But here we are.”

“Because you broke the law. I didn't make you. You read it, you broke it,” Tony said as Clint sung ‘la-la-la’ trying to drown out Tony.

“Alright, you're all grown up, you got a wife and kids. I don't understand, why didn't you think about them before you chose the wrong side?” Tony said before walking away from Clint.

“You gotta watch your back with this guy. There's a chance he's gonna break it,” Clint said, hitting his cage. Rebecca watched as Tony stood between the two of them. She knew he was there for information. She gave him a look that told him to go to hell before they heard Sam.

“How's Rhodes?” Tony looked at Sam.

“They're flying him to Columbia Medical tomorrow. So… fingers cross. What do you need? They feed you yet?” Tony asked.

“You're the good cop now?” Sam asked.

“I'm just the guy who needs to know where Steve went,” Tony said. Rebecca scoffed.

“I knew it,” she mumbles.

“Well, you better go get a bad cop, because you're gonna have to go Mark Fuhrman on my ass to get information out of me,” Rebecca smiled, happy Sam had their backs. Tony messed with the watch on his wrist.

“Oh, I just knocked the 'A' out of their 'AV'. We got about 30 seconds before they realize it's not their equipment,” He said before showing them both the image of a dead man on his watch. “Just look. Because that is the fellow who was supposed to interrogate Barnes. Clearly, I made a mistake. I was wrong,” Tony said. Rebecca looked at the images.

“That's a first,” Sam scoffed.

“Cap is definitely off the reservation but he's about to need all the help he can get. I know we aren’t the closest sometimes.” He said to Sam.

“Hey, alright,” Sam said.

“Sam…” Rebecca warned.

“He’s right. Steve’s gonna need all the help he can get,” Sam said to Rebecca. “Look, I'll tell you… but you have to go alone and as a friend.” Sam explained.

“Easy,” Tony said.

“Siberia,” He said, telling him about the HYDRA secret base.

“Thank you, Sam,” Tony said.

“If you betray them, I will hunt you down. There will be no place you can run from me,” Rebecca threaten. Tony walked over to her, with a sad smile.

“I know you will..” he told her.

“As long as we are clear on that.”

“For what it’s worth… I’m sorry, kid. You deserve better than this,” Rebecca scoffed before Tony left.

“Think it is going to make any difference?” Rebecca asked Sam.

“Maybe he can turn the tide against those Supersoldiers…” Sam said.

“I wish I was there…”

“I know... Me too,” Sam said before guards came in. They both sat down, refusing to talk to them. Not too long after that, Ross came in with 4 guards in full body armor. He looked around before going to stand where Tony stood, looking between the two of them.

“Last chance to talk…” He said.

“ _Go to hell,_ ” She said in Russian.

“What she said,” Sam agreed. Ross sighed at that.

“Take her,” He said as his guards opened her cell, grabbing her from where she sat.

“What are you doing?” She said pushing back against them, using her strength to resist them but not hurt them.

“Hey, let her go!” Sam snapped at them, hitting the cell wall.

“Then tell me where Rogers went,” Ross told Sam.

“We do not know…” Rebecca lied, as they dragged her from her cell, making her stand in front of Ross.

“I highly doubt that. That’s why Stark came to you two, he knew if anyone would know it would be one of you. So talk or things are gonna get a little more… unpleasant.” He told them as one of the men placed something around Rebecca's neck. It snapped into place and she panicked, her elbow going back to pop the man, and despite the gear, it knocked him off balance. She stomped on one's foot causing him to reel back in pain. She punched another, breaking his faceplate. Her now free hands when to the collar on her neck, trying to break it. An electrical shock went out, causing her to scream out in pain, falling to the floor in agony.

‘Not again,’ she thought, tears in her eyes as the pain started to reseed.

“Stop this!” Clint yelled out, banging on his door as well.

“Then talk!” Ross said, turning to look at all the prisoners. Despite the pain, she picked her head up, looking at them, showing them a spark in her eyes that told them to keep quiet.

“They do not know… and you are going to have to do a lot more than this, to get me to talk,” She said, smiling at him from the floor. She started to get up when another shock went through her. She screamed out.

“Do you even know what you're doing?” Sam asked Ross.

“Trying to get someone to talk,” He explained. She laughed from the floor, despite the pain.

“Good luck with that,” She said. Before he could zap her again, Sam spoke.

“No… you’re pissing off the wrong kind of people,” Sam said with a glare.

“You?” Ross laughed.

“Do you know who she is?” Sam explained.

“Yes, I know her background,” Ross said.

“And what she means to them.”

“Yes, she’s Steve Rogers partner and lover. Tony told us,” Ross explained.

“And Barnes?” Sam asked. Ross looked at her for a bit.

“Wasn’t informed about any connection…” Ross said honestly. She laughed again. She was thankful that Steve had helped her keep that information private.

“You are so screwed then…” She said, seeing where Sam was going with this.

“You’re not only torturing the woman Captain America loves… You’re also torturing the Winter Soldier's daughter. Once that comes out… there will be no place on Earth that you could hide from those two.”

“Rogers wouldn’t…” Ross started.

“With the right motivation… he would.” Sam said.

“And the Winter Soldier does not need much motivation, but you are sure as hell giving it to him…” She said from the floor. Ross took this information in for a moment before he looked to his guards.

“Lock her back up,” He said before leaving the room. She didn’t resist as they put her back in her cage. She watched as they left.

“Thank you, Sam,” She said, laying down on her bed, recovering from what happened.

“I was just telling him the truth…” Sam explained.

“Yes, but still, thank you,” Rebecca told him.

“So let me get this straight,” They both heard Scott say. “You're the metal arm guys daughter?” He asked. Rebeca couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“It is a long story but I guess we got time,” she said.

____________________________

-A few days later-

Rebecca was laying down in her bed when she got a sense of him. She sat up, not sure if she was imagining it at first before she got a clear message in her mind.

‘Be prepared,’ she heard, and she smiled. She closed her eyes, concentrating as much as she could, thinking about how they got here, the path they took, where they were located, any information that might help him. She concentrated as hard as she could. She had never sent him more than a few words before. She was not even sure if it would work, but right now, she was willing to try. Anything she could do to help him would be worth it. She let out a breath, not sure if she did anything more then give herself a headache.

‘Thanks, doll, I’m coming,’ she heard. She smiled again before standing up, going to the door of her cell. Clint noticed her. Her smile widened as she gave him a wink. He looks at her strangely, cocking his head. She put a finger to her lips, so he wouldn’t say anything and he nodded.

She motioned to Sam’s cell, and Clint nodded again, subtly getting Sam’s attention.

“Hey what’s...” Scott started to say before everyone gave him a death glare. He was quiet after that. They stood there on high alert before they heard some gunfire and she knew they were on their way.

“Get ready boys,” She told them. Soon after the fighting settles, the door opened. She smiles as Steve walks in. He walks to her cell.

“Thanks for the info, doll.” Bucky, Natasha, and Wanda quickly came in after him, helping him with the rescue. The door opens and without even thinking, she jumps into his arms, hugging him.

“Missed you too,” He whispered into her ear. He felt the collar, his hands went to it before she stopped him.

“It is a shock collar, you try and break it, it will go off.” She explained. His eyes darkened at that. He looked it over, trying to see if there was a way to get it off.

“We need to go before reinforcements make it here,” Natasha told him.

“We can get it later… let's go,” she said. Steve nodded as they made it out without much fight. They had made good work of the guards. They got to the hanger, the quinjet ready for them.

They all quickly got onto the quinjet as The Raft’s overhead doors began to open. Natasha started to pilot it, leaving the rest to sit in the back. Steve sat beside her, looking over the collar.

“Just pull it off,” She told him.

“You said it would shock you…” Steve argued.

“I will deal… just make it quick,” She told him. Steve looked over her shoulder before she felt someone else sit next to her.

“I’ll hold her hand,” She heard Bucky say. She looked at Bucky, sending him a silent ‘thank you’

“Grab right there,” She heard Scott tell them. “That looks to be the power source. Take it out and it should disable it,” He offered. Steve nodded to the man before doing as he asked.

“You ready?” Steve asked.

“As I am ever going to be,” She said. Steve took a breath before quickly squeezing and yanking at the device. It let out a shock, that made Rebecca nearly scream, squeezing her father’s hand. but it was short lived and the device fell apart, due to Steve’s efforts.

“You ok?” She heard Steve say.

“Yeah... “ She said, taking a breath. “I am good… thanks,” she said to Bucky. He smiled at her watching as she curls into Steves' arms.

“So where are we going?” Sam asked.

“Wakanda, We asked for sanctuary and King T’Challa has agreed,” Steve told them. “We’ll regroup and figure out what we are gonna to do from there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is me lately. I'm still trying to finish this fic though...
> 
>  


	12. Wakanda Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team's time in Wakanda.

They made it to Wakanda, landing the quinjet. Okoye and several members of the Dora Milaje where waiting to greet them as they disembarked.

“Welcome Captain, We have accommodations prepared for you and your friends,” She told them.

“And me?” Bucky asked her.

“Give us a few hours, and we will be ready for you,” She told him as she walked, escorting them to their accommodations.

“What’s going on?” Rebecca asked Bucky.

“The Wakadans are quite technologically advanced,” Bucky explained.

“I can see that,” She said, looking at the place around them.

“King T’Challa has agreed to help me… get this stuff out of my head,” Bucky said. Rebecca smiled.

“That’s great!” She said.

“Tell her the rest, Buck,” Steve warned as they walked.

“The rest?” She asked. Bucky sighed.

“It’s going to take time for them to figure it out… how to unscramble my brain.”

“Understandable,” She said.

“Until then…” He started, not sure how to tell her.

“He wants to put himself back on ice until they figure it out?” Steve supplied.

“On ice… like cryostasis?” She asked. Bucky nodded. “Why?”

“Because I can’t trust myself... “

“How long?” She asked

“A few months… a few years, however long it takes.”

“Years!?” She yelled, getting everyone's attention. “I just found you…” she said quieter.

“It’s too dangerous… someone just needs to say a few words and… it’s safer this way,” Bucky argued.

“For who? You?” She snapped at him.

“Becca…” He said, using Steve’s pet name for her.

“Do not use that name,” She said, walking away from him.

“I’ll talk to her,” Steve told Bucky as he moved past his friend, going to stand next to Rebecca as she walked.

“Do not…” She seethed at him. He put his hands up, offering her a truce. The Dora Milaje took them to their rooms. Rebecca went into the one she was assigned, closing the door on Steve, not wanting to talk to anyone right now.

The others decided to ignore their tiff, as they continued to be shown their accommodations. Steve stood by her door waiting for the others to leave. He sighed at her door for a moment before he took a breath, going in without knocking.

“I know you're angry but that doesn't mean you should shut me out…” He snapped at her, closing the door. He looked at her, seeing that the anger had faded and tears were now streaming down her face. He let out a breath, his own anger fading away.

“Come here,” He said, offering her his arms and she took them.

“We just found him,” She cried into his chest. “I don’t want to say goodbye to him…”

“It’s not going to be forever… just until he can be whole… be the man that you would be proud to call your father…”

“I understand why… does not mean I have to like it…” She said. He smiled at her.

“But you do have to accept it,” He told her. “Hey, Why don’t you get a shower, get changed, take a nap if you can. You’ve had a crazy week. You must be exhausted,” He said, kissing the top of her head, letting her go. “I’ll check on you in a little bit,” He told her before he left.

\------

Steve knocked on Rebecca’s room a few hours later, cleaned up. He was dressed in some slacks and a shirt they provided him. He waited a moment before she opened the door to let him in. As soon as she came into view, Steve's breath hitched a little.

“Like it?” She asked, twirling a little in her new dress. It was a blue and purple design, form fitted for the top half, buttons down the front along with long sleeves. The bottom was more free-flowing as the skirt went to her ankles. She had a pair of matching gloves.

“They gave me several choices to wear,” She told him, “But this one stood out,” she said with a smile.

“I love it…” He said honestly. He had never seen her in a dress before. She smiled at him.

“I figured I could be a girl for a little while since we are safe and all,” She told him.

“I approve of that decision,” he said moving in closer, pulling her into a kiss. She moaned into that, before breaking it.

“I can tell.” She says with a smile. “So what brought you back here?” She asked, knowing from the kiss something was bothering him.

“Come with me,” He said. She nodded and started to follow him.

“Where are we going?” She asked.

“To say goodbye.”

“I do not want to say goodbye,” she argued.

“It’s not going to be forever…”

“I still do not want too,” She said, pouting like a little child.

“That’s fine, but just be there. You’ll regret it if you don’t,” He said. She huffed but let him lead her there. They walked in, seeing Bucky have been prepared for his stay in Cryostasis. He was sitting on a table, in a white tank top and white pants. Bucky noticed as they entered, looking hopeful at Rebecca. Steve placed a hand on her back but she refused to approach. Steve sighed. He kissed her forehead before going to talk to Bucky.

“She doesn't look like she wants to be here…” Bucky said.

“She doesn’t want to say goodbye. I’m with her on that one. You sure about this?” Steve asked Bucky.

“I can't trust my own mind. So, until they figure out how to get this stuff out of my head I think going back under is the best thing, …for everybody.” He said, looking over at his daughter.

“Take care of her Steve…” He said.

“You know I will,” Steve said, before giving Bucky a hug. Steve looked at Rebecca then. She was watching them but still didn’t approach.

Bucky got off the table, approaching the cryo pod before Rebecca began to move without even realizing it. She walked up to Bucky. He smiled at her before pulling her into a hug.

“Hey, when I come out… when I’m truly myself, we can try this whole family thing…” He told her.

“You promise…” she asked him.

“I promise,” He said, kissing the top of her head quickly before pulling away, moving to go into the pod. Steve smiled at her, pulling her into his arms as they watched as Bucky began to freeze.

They left the unit, lost in thought. They found their way to a window, looking out to the wonders that were Wakanda.

“Do you think we are truly safe here?” Rebecca asked.

“Yeah, I really think we are.” He told her. They felt a presence come up to them. Steve looked to see T'Challa.

“Thank you for this.” He told him.

“Your friend and my father, they were both victims. If I can help one of them find peace…” he explained.

“You know, If they find out he's here… they'll come for him.” Steve said with a smile, knowing better.

“Let them try,” T'Challa said.

“I’d like to see that,” Steve told him. T'Challa smiled.

“You and your friends are welcome in Wakanda,” T'Challa told them. “Stay as long as you like.”

“Thank you,” Steve said. T’Challa nodded to them before leaving the couple alone.

They looked out at the scene before them. After a few minutes, a yawn formed on Rebecca’s lips. Steve smiled at that.

“Hey, let me take you back to your room. You need some sleep,” He told her.

“Join me?” She asked, innocently. His hand went to rub his face before he gave her a smirk.

 

 

“If I join you… you won't be getting any sleep,” He told her honestly.

“Oh…” She said a slight blush forming on her cheeks.

“I could have lost you…” he explained to her, kissing the top of her head. “I don’t want to lose any more time. I don’t want to have any more regrets.” She closed her eyes, taking in his scent.

“Neither do I…” she told him, her voice low and husky. He let out a groan.

“You’re tired. You need rest,” He argued, with himself as well as her. She wanted to argue back but she knew he was right. She sighed.

“Tonight…” She promised him. He smiled at her. He leaned in, kissing her lips for just a moment before whispering into her ear.

“Tonight then…” He told her, sending a chill down her spine. He pulled back from her, smirking. “But until then… rest,” He offered her as he walked her back to her room.

\--------

Later that evening, Steve knocked on her door. She answered with a smile.

“We are getting together for dinner, care to join us?” he asked.

“Sure,” She said before closing her door, following him.

“You look refreshed… got some sleep?” he asked.

“Yes, I think I slept most of the afternoon.”

“Good,” He said, giving her a look. She smiled at that, holding onto his arm, pulling him closer as they walked. His arm wrapped around her shoulder. As they approached the dining room, his arm slipped off her shoulder, hand going to rest on her back, allowing himself the subtle contact.

She walked in to see Clint, Scott, Natasha, Sam, and Wanda sitting around a table, a feast on it.

“Wow, they go all out for their guests,” Rebecca said as they sat at the table, Rebecca next to Clint, Steve sitting next to her. They all began to eat and talk.

“This looks amazing,” she said.

“Compared to what we been eating for the past few days, anything would be amazing,” Sam said.

“No it’s just amazing,” Clint argued as he ate. They talked and ate, enjoying the company of their friends.

“So how close are you getting with Steve?” Clint whispered to Rebecca with a smile, teasing her.

“I heard that Clint… and it’s none of your business,” Steve said as he went back to his meal.

“Oh come on, can’t we ask if there are any wedding bells or little Caps in the future,” Clint teased. She smiled at Steve, mischievous.

“We have been getting close… but it’s not like we have fondued yet…” she said quietly, trying to hold in a laugh. Steve choked on his drink then.

“Fondue?” Clint asked, a little louder.

“I told you that in private..” Steve told her. She busted out laughing at the embarrassed look on his face, her laughter getting unwanted attention.

“Oh, I’m guessing that’s an interesting story,” Natasha said.

“And one you’re not going to hear…” Steve said. Rebecca gave her a look that read she would tell her about it later.

“Sorry for interrupting. Do you mind if I join you?” They heard T’challa say. A few of them started to stand, before he put a hand up, stopping them. “You don’t have to do that…” He told them as they sat back down.

“Join us,” Steve said as he sat at the dinner table. “Thank you for all this.”

“It’s the least I could do for you. You helped me bring my father’s killer to justice,” T’challa told him. Steve smiled.

“And thank you for helping my father,” Rebecca said. T’Challa nodded to her.

“It's the least I could do for trying to kill an innocent man,” He told her.

“Speaking about that… are we going to get in any trouble? For you know… trying to kill you?” She asked him. T’challa smiled at that.

“In my culture, combat is welcomed. Besting me in the right circumstance can win you the crown,” He explained.

“Really?” She asked, with a raised eyebrow.

“Don’t get any ideas,” Steve said.

“But it would be nice to be the queen,” She joked, getting a laugh from the table. Steve leaned in and whispers into her ear.

“You’re already my queen,” He said to her. “And I plan on showing you tonight.” He teased her, paying her back for earlier. She couldn’t help but blush at that.

“Ooooh now you need to share that,” Sam teased them.

“Leave them alone, they’re too cute,” Natasha piped in. They all continued to talk for a little bit, enjoying the food and drink that was offered to them.

“So what are our plans?” Sam said at one point.

“Not sure, but for right now, I like to rest for a little bit. If we see something that we agree we need to handle, then we handle it,” Steve told them

“You’re welcome to stay as long as you like,” T’challa said.

“That is great and all, but some of us have other places we would like to be,” Clint told them.

“It might not be the best idea to go home,” Steve told him.

“I know, but it's still something I want to do… I can handle what comes after that.” Clint said.

“So can I…” Scott piped in, “I’d like to head home too,” he said. Steve looked like he was thinking it over.

“Give us a few days to recover and we will take you home,” He told them. The two men nodded. “Anyone else?” Steve asked, looking mostly at Wanda.

“No… we’re with you, Cap,” Sam said, getting nods from the rest.

“Then let's toast,” T’challa said, raising his glass. They all grab their glasses holding them up.

“To friends. Whether they be old or new, to wherever we may travel, may we never forget each other. May we always hold a place for them in our hearts.” Rebecca couldn’t help but smile, looking over at her friends. This may not have been what she wanted for them, or the family she had before, but she knew, she was still home.

“To family,” She added, getting a nod from the table. They clinked glasses, looking at each other before they all took a drink.


	13. Fonduing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rebecca and Steve spend the night together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Just a warning. I moving the Rating up from Mature to Explicit because of this chapter. If that's not your thing, then skip this one, and pick up on Wednesday.

After dinner, Steve walked Rebecca to her room. She stood in front of her door, looking up at him, shyly. He smiled at her, leaning in for a kiss. It started out light, quickly turning more passionate as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in closer.

She could feel the love radiating off him. Images of his plans flashed before her. She broke the kiss with a light moan, cheeks turning pink. He flashed her a devilish smile.

“Would you like to come in?” She asked him, biting her lip. He nodded before she opened the door, letting him in. Once the door was closed, he moved to her, hands in her hair, lips on hers. She moaned out, knowing this was going to happen. He broke the kiss, moving to whisper into her ear

“So what would my queen like?” He said in a lustful voice. She couldn’t help but let out a small laugh pulling slightly away from him.

“I can not believe you said that,” she said feeling her cheeks flush.

“And you… bringing up fondue,” Steve added.

“But that was cute… yours was just…”

“Hot?” He guessed.

“Mean,” She told him. “I had to sit there feeling…” She trailed off as his hands went into her hair.

“How did it make you feel?” He asked, giving her an intense gaze. 

 

 

“Awkward.” He moved so that his lips were close to her ear, breathing out.

“Is that all?” He asked. She squirmed just a little at the feeling, biting her lip to suppress a moan.

“Maybe… a little aroused…” She admitted.

“I know... I saw you squirming,” He said with a devilish smile. Her eyes got a little wide and she smacked him playfully on his chest.

“You are so mean, Steve.” He let out a low chuckle as he leaned back into her ear.

“Mean… mean was having to smell you the rest of dinner…” he admitted. She felt the blush on her cheeks before he pulled her back into a kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck, bringing him in as close as she could. He began to walk them to the bed. When he felt the bed on his knees, he sat down, pulling her into his lap.

She slipped into his lap, her knees going to either side of his hips. She felt his arms go to her back, pulling her tightly against him.

‘We are really doing this...’ she thought to herself, starting to feel a little nervous, as he kisses down her neck, attacking it with lips and teeth. She moaned out loudly before he broke the contact, looking at her with concern.

“You’re nervous?” He asked her. “I trust you. Your powers won't hurt me…” She sighed.

“It’s not my powers I’m worried about…” she said looking away from him.

“Then what is it?” He asked her, nipping at her exposed neck, hearing her breath hitch. She licked her now dry lips.

“It is… I have never…” She started to say as her nervousness flooded her mind. He pulled back, his hand on her chin, turning her to look at him.

“If that’s why you're nervous… we can stop. I don’t want to pressure you,” He told her. She smiled at him pulling him into a quick kiss.

“Not happening. Not tonight. Not after everything. I want you… I want you in every way,” She offered him. He smiled at her.

“If you change your mind…” He started.

“I will not… but thank you,” She told him as her lips met his. His hands went to her feet, sliding up her legs, pulling up her dress as he advanced. When he got to her knees, she broke the kiss, letting out a loud moan at his hands on her skin. It felt so good, so right and she wanted more.

“God… I can smell how wet you are… feel how aroused you are...” He growled out as she panted.

‘I can feel you too,’ he felt her say as she rolled her hips, feeling his hardness, feeling his emotions, feeling everything. It was overwhelming. He growled before his hands left her knees, moving to her neck, pulling her into him, kissing her with such intensity she could feel herself nearly explode.

‘You’re so close and I’ve barely touched you,’ she heard as he attacked her neck again. She moaned and squirmed against him. ‘So close I can taste it,’ he said, nipping hard on her neck, feeling her wind-up some more. One of his hands left her neck, slipping down her body, cupping one of her breasts through her clothes.

“Steve…” She moaned out. His thumb caressed the nipple causing her to take a sharp intake of breath. He smiled against her neck, pulling back, looking at her.

“You’re beautiful,” He said admiring how she was falling apart in his arms.

“Please,” She whined. She knew what he was doing. She surprised herself on how much she wanted it. How much she needed it. He flashed her a grin.

“Patience...” He whispered to her.

“Screw patience,” She told him in German. He chuckled before he leaned in, whispering into her ear.

“You’re the one about to be screwed…” He told her as his hand slipped off her breast, moving slowly down to her hip, his lips on her neck.

‘Please...’ he felt her beg. His hand moved from her hip, sliding under the hem of her dress, going between her legs. His fingers slide into her soaking panties before slipping between her folds. He felt her tense at the slightest contact, moaning out as his thumb started to rub the bundle of nerves that sent her so close to completion.

“I want you to let go, Becca,” he whispered into her ear, before attacking her neck, as his thumb rubbed against her until he could tell it was just right. He felt her fall apart within his arms, letting out a scream as the pleasure washed over her, feeling it himself, feeling himself on the edge of falling over as well, his body completely on fire.

“I want you, Steve… Oh… god… Steve!” She nearly screamed as another wave washed over her. He felt her nails dig into his back, as he lost it, giving into her pleasure. He moaned into her neck, pulling her close to him as he gave in. She felt herself come one last time, as his orgasm washed over her. She slumped against his chest, spent.

“Holy... shit,” She said, between pants. He couldn't help but chuckle. She rarely cursed in English.

“I.... concur,” He said between his own pants.

“And we have not… even got our… clothes off…” She said. He busted out laughing at that one.

“It gets better…” He told her.

“How?” She asked.

“I’m not sure… because that was the most mind-blowing experience I have ever felt…” He admitted to her. She let out a chuckle before surging forward, feeling a boost of energy. She pushed him back onto the bed, as she kissed him. He smiled into the kiss before he quickly flipped her, pushing her onto her back, as he laid to the side of her, yet still loomed over her. He broke the kiss, smiling down at her.

“Eager much?” He asked.

“Well, you did promise some screwing tonight… I was just trying to get to it,” She said, pulling him back down into a kiss.

‘Patience…’ he told her into the kiss. He could feel her worry, sensing the reason why she wanted to rush.

‘You won't hurt me. I won't let it go that far. I want to take my time with you… you deserve it,’ he explained to her. He felt her relax against him. ‘Better.’ He started to unbutton the front of her dress, opening it up, exposing her bra to him. He pulled back to look at her.

“You're gorgeous,” He told her, a hand slipping in to cup her breast.

“Oh….” She breathed out, leaning into his touch. “I want…” She started to ask him. He smiled at her, hand leaving her breast as he pulled his shirt off, before tossing it away. She looked at him, breathless. It wasn’t the first time she had seen him without his shirt on, but it was still quite a sight. She reached up, touching his chest, fingers lightly brushing the muscles before her. She feels a shiver go down his spine. Her fingers went down his chest to his stomach, before resting on his pants. His hands went to hers, stopping her. She could feel slight embarrassment before he pulled away from her.

“Just give me a moment,” He promised her, getting out of bed, leaving her there as he went into the bathroom, to get cleaned up. He was still a little shocked he came in his pants, but he was honest when he told her he had never felt anything like this before. Her connection was making sex intense, making it worth the slight fatigue he was feeling.

He finished stripping off his soiled clothes, cleaning up his mess, his erection still rock hard. He wasn’t sure if it was because of his powers or just how much he was attracted to her. He smiled, looking at himself in the mirror. He was flushed, even with the evidence cleaned away. He looked at his shoulder, seeing nail marks there. He couldn’t help but chuckle at that before he left the bathroom, stopping at the sight before him.

 

 

Rebecca was laying on the bed now, looking at him, in nothing but her matching black bra and panties.

“Shit…” He said, looking at her. She smiled.

“Language…” she jokingly chastised him.

“Guess you’re a bad influence on me,” He said to her as he walked up to her, naked. She couldn’t help but bite her lip at the intense look he was giving her.

“If you keep doing that, sweetheart, this will be a quick night…” He warned her, leaning over her. His finger went to her lips. She smiled before nipping at his finger, causing Steve to growl.

“Doll, the things you do to me…” he said. His hands went into her hair as he pulled her into another kiss. He started to kiss down her neck. She moaned out his name in pure arousal, not even sure if it was hers or his anymore. His fingers slipped down her sides before settling on her hips. His thumbs circled around the hollows of her hips as he devoured her neck. Her mind was on overload. She kept begging him over and over for more, for everything and he was ready to oblige her.

His thumbs moved in, slipping into her underwear, sliding them off her hips, down her legs and quickly discarded them, causing her to let out a gasp. He smiled at her moving back up her body, looking right into her eyes, their lips close to touching. Her breath hitched, feeling how close he was to her. She could feel him settle between her legs, her legs automatically opening for him.

“You ready?” He asked her one last time. She smiled at him, her hand going to his cheek, pulling him in for a kiss.

‘I am always ready for you,’ she told him as her hands went into his hair. She felt as he started to push in a little, and she broke the kiss, letting out a loud moan.

“Steve… god… Feels sooo...” She tried to say as he pushes in a little more, agonizingly slow. Steve staled just for a moment, taking a breath before pushing in again, not stopping until she started to feel a little discomfort. When he stopped, she groaned disappointedly, begging him with her mind.

‘I don’t want to hurt you,’ he promised her, moving slowly again, lips locking onto hers. It seems like forever before he was fully sheathed inside her.

‘Feels so good,’ she sent him as her lips devoured his. He smirked into the kiss before he rolled his hips, causing them both to let out a curse. Her hand grasped his shoulders, pushing his chest closer to hers. She wanted to fill every inch of him on her. She wanted it all. And she could feel he wanted that as well.

He began to slowly move within her. She bit her lip trying her best not to come at the feeling only to realize, it wasn’t her that wanted to hold on. She looked up into his eyes, seeing them screwed shut, trying his best to hold on despite all the sensations washing over him. Her hands went to his cheeks, smiling at him, which cause him to open his eyes, looking at her.

“Just give in, Steve. I want it... “ She begged him. He nodded against her before his thrust started to become faster, causing them both to moan out. Her hand grabbed his bicep, holding on as he drove into her with hard, solid strokes. She felt his hand on her hip, slipping down to her thighs before he pulled up her leg. This caused him to shift within her, as she let out a scream of pleasure as the shift hit something in her.

“Shit…” He moaned out before he moved harder within her, causing her to quickly spiral out of control with pleasure. She grabbed onto his back, holding it like a lifeline, as the pleasure exploded within her. Steve was surprised he held on this long as he did as he started to lose control, his thrusts becoming harder and faster. He looked down at her as she continued to fall apart in his arms, loving the feeling of her all around him, her pleasure coursing through his veins while his coursed through hers.

He felt himself falter for just a second, feeling himself becoming dizzy from it all. He could feel her concern for a moment before it quickly was replaced by ecstasy as he pushed back in her harder and faster, quickly chasing his own release, knowing it was close. She threw her head back, exposing her neck to him giving him just what he needed.

“Steve!” She screamed. “I love you,” She whispered and he lost it, pushing into her one last time, feeling himself coming hard and deep within her, calling out her name. He collapsed onto her, nuzzling her neck, feeling himself completely and utterly spent. He felt her struggle under him, and he tried to move, but it was almost like his limbs would not listen to him. She quickly pushed him onto his back and he smiled up at her happily, completely sated.

“You ok?” She asked, concern in her eyes.

“Yeah…” He said, eyes droopy.

 

 

“Then sleep,” She told him with a happy smile. He nodded to her, eyes closing before he quickly fell asleep. She sighed, looking at him. She pulled the covers over him, letting him rest, concerned they pushed her powers a little too far tonight. But despite that concern, she knew she didn’t regret it. She knew she would never regret being with Steve… no matter what.

She settled in next to him, giving him plenty of room, trying to get some sleep, watching as he slept.


	14. The Morning After

Rebecca slips out of bed after trying to sleep for nearly an hour. She looks down at Steve, heavy with sleep. She stretched, getting the kinks out of her well-used body. She smiled at that. She was feeling antsy, still feeling the extra energy from Steve coursing through her. She decided to go for a walk to get rid of some of that energy. She got dressed in some jeans and a shirt. She kissed Steve on the cheek before leaving.

She walked down the hall, before coming across a glass wall, with an extraordinary view of Wakanda. She stopped, standing in front of the glass, looking at it.

“It’s a nice view,” She heard Natasha say. Rebecca turned, seeing some chairs, seeing Natasha curled into one, her hair freshly wet, newly blonde.

“New look?” Rebecca asked.

“We’re fugitives. I wanted to look… less like myself,” She explained. Rebecca thought that over.

“Hmmm I guess I should do the same,” She said, sitting down next to Natasha. Natasha looked her over before cocking her head for a second.

“What?” Rebecca asked when she saw a smile break out over Natasha’s face.

 _“About damn time you two did something…”_ Natasha told her in Russian. Rebecca looked a little shocked, trying not to blush. 

 _“Ahhh. Do what?”_ She tried to hide it. 

 _“You’re neck… Steve did a number on it,”_ Natasha said. Rebecca's hands went to her neck, covering up the bruises there, her cheeks turning red. Natasha smiled at her. _“Nothing to be ashamed of, its endearing. So he’s sleeping it off?”_ Natasha asked. 

 _“Yes, I did a number on him as well,”_ She said a small smirk on her lips. 

_“Is he going to be ok?”_

_“He will live,”_ She said, her blush deepening. Natasha took a piece of Rebecca’s hair, twirling it around her fingers

“Want to try brown?” She asked, getting a confused look from Rebecca. “You’re hair… maybe we can dye it brown. You would look cute as a brunette,” she offered. Rebecca smiled. 

“Sounds good, maybe we can do that before we leave,” She offered. Natasha nodded.

“So… Fondue?” She asked. Rebecca couldn’t help but let out a loud laugh as she began to tell the story. 

________________________

 

Rebecca woke up the next morning, after a few hours of sleep. She found Steve still resting beside her. It concerned her a little, as she watched him. She saw that the covers had slipped off him a little, exposing his chest to her. She could see some of the marks she left on him and it made her smile as her hand went to her neck. She watched his breathing for a minute before she decided to let him sleep a little bit longer, getting up. She headed to the shower, getting ready for the day. 

When she came out fully dressed, she noticed Steve sitting up in the bed, still completely naked. She looked at him for a moment, marveling at the beauty that was him. She could tell that he was still tired, and just a little out of it.

“Good morning sleepy head,” She offered him. He looked up to her, with hooded eyes, giving her a half smile.

“Morning…” He said softly. He looked like he was still shaking off the effects of last night. 

“Is this what a hangover looks like?” She asked, curiously.

“Something like that…” He said, hand on his temples, rubbing away the pain. 

“Sorry if being with me causes you… pain,” She said sadly.

“Hey…” He said, holding his arms out for her. “It’s worth every second…” He offered her. She nodded before moving into his arms as he pulled her to him. He held her for a little bit before her stomach growled. She heard him chuckle before he let her go.

“Let me get dressed so we can go find my queen some food,” He told her.

“I’m never living that one down, am I?” She asked. He shook his head, smiling at her as he got dressed.

_____________________________

 

They made it to the dining hall, seeing that food had been prepared for them, laid out in a buffet style. Steve surveyed the room, seeing that some people had already visited while seeing that Sam and Natasha were still present. He smiled at them when they turn to look at him.

“About time you two woke up,” Natasha told them, with a knowing smile. 

“Wild night?” Sam teased. Steve gave him a look before shaking his head.

“Lots of fonduing?” Natasha asked Steve. Steve quickly looked at Rebecca who was avoiding eye contact, trying her best to hide the smile forming on her lips as she filled her plate with some food.

“BECCA!” He snapped at her. She started to laugh.

 “You know… I can not keep a secret from her…she is a master interrogator after all...” Rebecca said innocently.

“Did they finally?” Sam asked curiously. He looked at his two friends, seeing both their embarrassment.   “About damn time…” He told them. Steve rolled his eyes.

“Can it, both of you…” Steve said as he got his own food. They sat down enjoying breakfast, being teased by their friends. Despite the embarrassment, Rebecca was happy. She felt like things were getting back to normal for her family. 

‘Family…’ she thought as her mind drifted to Bucky now. Steve could sense the change in her mood, pulling her close.

“You ok?” He whispered to her. She smiled at him.

“Nothing to worry about, “ She told him as she went back to eating and talking to her friends.

__________________________

 

An hour later, she went to go visit Bucky, looking at him in the cryostasis tube. She looked over the panels, looking at his vitals, not really knowing what she was looking at, or what would be normal for him. She wasn't sure what else she should do when she came to visit him. 

“Hello,” she heard. She turned, seeing a woman, a few years younger than her.  

 “Hi,” She said.

 “You came to check in on your father?” The woman asked. Rebecca nodded. The woman offered her hand.

 “I’m Shuri… I’m the one trying to figure out his programming... “ She told her.

“Are you not… a little young?” She asked before getting a look from Shuri. “Not that I am questioning your qualifications or anything, I mean one of my friends had a couple of masters degrees by the time he was your age.” She babbled, before taking a breath. “I’m sorry. I’m sure you can handle it if T’Challa put you in charge,” She told her. Shuri smiled.

“I assure you, I am quite qualified,” She told her. Rebecca nodded.

“Good.. good… do you mind if I ask you what you are planning on doing?”

“You have some training in neuroscience?” Shuri asked. 

“None whatsoever… but I quickly pick up on things.” She said with a smile. “And I want to know what is going on with him.”

“It would take me too long to explain things…” She told Rebecca.

“You do not have to explain anything, just let me know what is going on. If I do not understand something then I will spend my time researching it,” She told her. Shuri looked at her curiously. She shrugged. “I do not mind teaching myself … I just… please, I want to know what is going on with him,” She begged her. Shuri sighed, picking up a tablet, starting to type on it as she talked. 

“I’ll send you everything we have on Sergeant Barnes and I will keep you up to date on his condition.” She promised. Rebecca smiled.

“Thank you,” She said, before pulling Shuri into a hug. Shuri let out a laugh.

“Anything you need. Just let me know.” Shuri offered her. 

“Thank you, Shuri. I will be in touch,” She told the younger woman. She walked back over to her father, her hand resting on the cool glass of the pod.

“I will see you soon,” She told him before she left.

_______________________

 

Rebecca secluded herself the rest of the day, looking over the information over her father. She found information about his time in HYDRA and a pretty detailed timeline. She was pretty sure that was Steve’s doing. He must have given them the information he had on her father. She was reading about what they had done so far and what were the plans in the future. She looked over scans, researching any information she didn’t understand, completely lost in it.

She heard a knock on the door. She didn’t even look up when she told them they could come in.

“Must be interesting…” Steve said with a chuckle. She looked up from the information, with a smile, looking at her lover. She noticed the plate in his hand.

“Hey... yes. You know me. I am like a dog with a bone sometimes,” She explained. 

“I can see that,” He said noticing that she had food wrappers surrounding her. She always liked to snack when she was engrossed within something. He smiled remembering when he used to clean up after her in the compound.

It had only been a few weeks since then, but yet a lifetime ago. So much had changed since then. For both of them.

“I brought you dinner.” He said showing her the plate.

“Dinner?” She said, looking at a clocked, a little shocked. She’d been pouring over this information for nearly 8 hours now. “Damn.. sorry I lost track of time,” She said rubbing her eyes. She stood up stretching. She walked over to Steve, hands out to take the plate. He held it above her head. 

“Are you going to take a break?” he asked her. She could tell he was concerned. She playfully rolled her eyes. 

“Yes, I will,” She told him before he handed her the food.

 “You can be just as bad as Tony when you find something you're interested in,” He said. She sat down on a couch in her room, before taking a quick bite.

“I guess I can be,” She said, taking it as a compliment. “Speaking about Tony, you still have not told me what happened. In Siberia...” She asked. She knew something went down, but Steve and Bucky had been tight-lipped about it. Steve sighed, sitting next to her.

“Not right now…” He begged her. She nodded to him, kissing his forehead.

“Soon though... “ she told him.

“So what was so interesting?” He asked her, trying to change the subject.

“I asked for information on what they were going to do with my father,” She said.

“Yep.. that would get your interest...” Steve said with a light chuckle.  

“Did I miss anything at dinner?” She asked as she ate.

“We are planning on taking Lang and Barton back to the states tomorrow. They are eager to go back. I don’t blame them. They have their families…” He told her. 

“But it’s not safe for them…” Rebecca argued. 

“They are hoping they can make a deal… they stand a shot, due to past good deeds and the fact they aren’t me.” He told her. They knew who the government was really after.

“How far the mighty Captain has fallen,” She said, half joking, but noticed that her words had struck a chord with him. She put her plate down. “Hey… sorry. Did not mean too…” She started but he cut her off.

“It’s fine. I knew what was most likely going to happen when I didn’t sign. But it was worth it… for him… I’m just… worried about you,” He said honestly. She smiled at him.

“Do not. This last year… has been one of the best years of my life. I had freedom. For the first time in my life, and with that freedom, I had the freedom to choose. Please do not question my choice anymore, ” She told him honestly, hand going to caress his cheek. “And I know I made the right one. I am thankful for that,” She told him, eyes shining with her love for him. He nodded to her before he leaned in, pulling her into a passionate kiss before slowly pushing her to the couch, settling on top of her, hands in her hair.

‘When are we leaving in the morning?’ she asked.

‘Early.’ He felt her worry for him. ‘They will wait for us...’ he told her.

‘Or we could just be quick about it,’ she told him, sending him thoughts of what she wanted him to do to her. He broke the kiss with a moan.

“I don’t think I ever want to be quick with you…” He admitted. Pulling her shirt over her head. His hand went down to cup her bra covered breast before she moved to unsnap it, freeing her breast. He quickly took one into his mouth.

‘Unless you want to be dead on your feet tomorrow…’ She argued.

‘Don’t care…’ He said moving to the other breast.

‘I do…’ She said, before pushing him off her breast, until he was sitting on the couch. She smiled at him, standing up, popping open her jeans, slowly slipping them down her legs as he watched. He reached for her and she backed away from his touch, shaking her finger at him. He groaned out, looking at her with lust filled eyes.

“Patience, Cap…” She teased him.    

 “Screw patience,” He told her with a flirty smile. She let out a chuckle.

 “Take your shirt off,” She told him, as she stood before him in nothing but a pair of black panties. He straightens up, looking right into her eyes, before removing his shirt, tossing it away. She bit her lip at the intensity of his gaze. She was losing a little of her confidence but she chose not to show it.

 “Pants...” She told him. He looked at her and she felt a flush appear on her cheeks. He slipped his fingers under his pants, pulling them off along with his underwear, slipping them off with a groan, sitting there as he stroked himself, completely naked to her gaze. Her breath hitched. She let out a breath before slipping off her panties.

 “You’re gorgeous…” He breathed out. She felt her blush spread. He held his hand out to her and she took it this time. He pulled her close to him, his lips brushing against her stomach before moving to kiss the hollow of her hip. 

“Steve!” She moaned out, slipping into his lap, hearing him groan as her wetness rubbed against his hardness.

 “You don’t play fair…” He told her, as his hands went to her hips.

“That’s the point…” She said as she allowed him to lift her up slightly before he lowered her on his hardness. They both groaned out at the feeling they both shared. They immediately found a rhythm, as her hands went into his hair, pulling him closer to her, his face buried in her neck. She could feel pride radiate through him, looking at the handy work he did to her neck last night. 

‘You like marking me?’ she thought.

‘Shows that you are mine,’ he thought before he growled as they began to speed up. She could feel the lust overwhelm them.

‘Then mark me…’ she told him, feeling his thrusts become shaky jerks at the request. She felt his teeth sink into her neck, with just enough pressure, causing her orgasm with the perfect amount of stimulation. She threw her head back, moaning out his name. It didn’t take him long before he followed her over with his own orgasm, holding her tightly to his body as he emptied himself into her warm body.

“So much… for taking my time…” He panted out. She smiled.

“We will have other times to take it slow…” She told him, kissing his forehead. “I am just happy you are still conscious this time,” she smiled, before she started to pull back from him but he wouldn’t let go of her. 

“Steve... “ She warned.

‘A few more moments won't make a difference… let me hold you,’ he pleaded to her. She nodded to him, arms wrapping around him as he held onto her for as long as he could stand it before eventually letting go of her.


	15. A Father's Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuri send's Rebecca a hopeful message.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I have a little technobabble in this story. I'm not sure if it lines up 100% but using it to help me write my narrative. Hopes it's not too bad.

\-------

9 months later

\--------

 

Steve, Wanda, Sam, Natasha, and Rebecca had quickly made it back to the quinjet. They had made some noise mopping up an old HYDRA’s base, and Steve wanted to be long gone before the governments came looking for them. Everyone was thankful for what they could scavenge from the base. They had been getting a little low on supplies.

Rebecca sat down in the back of the quinjet, sighing, taking a second to relax, now that they were airborne and in stealth mode. She knew she should be helping Natasha with the inventory of what they salvaged, but she was so tired, she could have easily nodded off. She then remembered that she needed to check her email. Natasha could wait. She was happy she was able to find the time to connect her tablet to a wifi source before they headed out. She tried her best only to do so sparingly, not wanting to possibly give their location out, and she didn’t always have the time to secure her connection.

She pulled out the tablet and started to read through the information she was able to gather. She was happy the email she composed for Tony had sent. They had talked about Siberia and her and Tony had come to an understanding over what happened. She hadn’t told Steve yet that she had been corresponding back and forth with their friend. After their falling out, she wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

Tony had sent her information about some weapon dealers that had been causing havoc on the west coast. She smiled. It had been a while since they were able to make it to the states. She kind of missed them. She’ll let Steve know about it later, once they had rested.

She saw another email, from about two weeks ago. From Wakanda. From Shuri. It only had two words, but those words nearly stopped her heart. “He’s out.”

“Steve…” She said softly. Steve turned from his conversation with Sam to look at her.

“You ok, Becca? You look like you have seen a ghost.” He told her.

“Bucky is out…” She told him. He came over and looked at the email.

“I wonder why they didn’t send us a coded message?” he said, mostly to himself.

“Maybe it was not a priority…” She said.

“Either way… we’ve been running hot for a while. Some downtime should do us good,” He said before going to the cockpit, letting Natasha know they were now heading to Wakanda. Steve sent them a message warning them they were coming.

 

\------

 

They arrived at Wakanda, landing the quinjet. Several members of the Dora Milaje where waiting for them. 

“King T’Challa sends his apologies on not being able to greet you. He is currently in a council meeting, but he would be happy to meet with you as soon as he is done,” One of the ladies told them.

“Is Shuri busy?” Rebecca asked. The woman activated a Kimoyo bead, talking into it.

“Shuri, our guest would like to meet with you if you have time.”

“Sure, send **her** up,” They heard the chipper voice say. Rebecca smiled at the comment.  

“I know my way,” Rebecca said before getting a nod. She walked into the building to the elevator, going to Shuri’s research room. Steve and Natasha joined her while Wanda and Sam went to their accommodations.

“Hey, Shuri… got your email…” Rebecca said as she came into the room.

“About time, I sent it to you ages ago,” She teased.

“Not the best way to get ahold of us… why didn’t you send a message?” Rebecca asked.

“Because… she wasn’t supposed to let you know,” They both heard T’Challa say.

“Brother…” Shuri said.

“Why was not I supposed to know my father was out?” She asked.

“Because… he asked us not too,” T’Challa said.

“And I felt he was being stupid… I would want to know if my father was back…” Shuri explained to her brother. T’Challa understood her feelings.

“But it wasn't our choice to make…” T’Challa argued, before turning back to Rebecca. “He still processing everything. We may have removed the programming that HYDRA placed into his mind, but he still carries the memories of everything he did while under their control,” T’Challa explained.   

“So he does not want to see us…” Rebecca asked. T’Challa nodded. “Could you still ask him for us. I would really like to see him. If he knows that and still chooses not to see me, then I will not bother you about it again. I’ll give him the space he needs,” She told him.

“I’ll send him your request,” He told her before he left. Shuri grabbed her arm, dragging her over to where she was working.

“I came up with some technology for you,” Shuri said, with a smile.

“Show me what you’ve got,” Rebecca said. Shuri picked up an energy powered weapon and Rebecca smiled.

“You made it!” Rebecca said happily.

“Hey is that my…” Natasha started.

“Widow’s sting. Yes, it is. I asked Shuri to re-create it… for both of us..” She said with a smile.

“You mean upgrade it,” Shuri told her.

“I always hated that name,” Natasha added.

“I thought it was cute. I suggested it to Tony when we were working on it,” Rebecca said.

“You help Tony make this?” Steve asked a little surprised. She smiled at him.

“I am more than just a pretty face,” She told him, giving him a quick kiss on his cheek. “So how did you upgrade it?” She asked Shuri. Shuri handed it to her.

“Oh… wow, you reduced the weight.”

“And it can stand about four times as much use before overheating,” She explained.

“Sweet, please say you made one for me!” She said. They both smiled at each other.

“Of course… but I got you another gift. Maybe this time, you will respond to your emails faster.” She said handing her a small ball that fits in the palm of her hands. “Personal hotspot with an IP and GPS scrambler built in. You can use it just about anywhere without anyone tracking your location.” Rebecca smiled.

 “Thank you. Is there anything else you have been working on? “ Rebecca asked curiously. Shuri nodded, showing her some of her other inventions.

“She’s like a kid in a candy store,” Natasha said as she watched Rebecca and Shuri talk.

“I didn’t know she helped Tony make that weapon for you…” Steve asked, curious.

“Yeah, one of the many things they were working on,” She said.

“I mean I guess I always saw her tinkering around with things, but I never paid her much mind,” Steve explained. 

“It’s not your cup of tea, I get that,” Natasha said. At that T’Challa walked back in, getting everyone's attention.

 “I talked to him. He’s willing to have a short visit...  just with her…” T’Challa said, pointing to Rebecca. Rebecca looked to Steve and saw the hurt in his eyes. He moved over, kissed her on the top of her head. She could feel his pain but he understood his decision.

“Go see him. Nat and I have some catching up to do,” Steve told her. She nodded following T’Challa out. He met up with Ayo and asked her to escort her to her father. She escorted her to a vehicle on the ground floor and Rebecca nodded getting in.

“How far is he?” She asked. Ayo smiled.

“Not too far, just outside the city,” She explained. Ayo piloted the hover car, heading out away from the city, to a more rural area with a small village. She parked them close to the river, where a few huts stood a little more isolated from the village. She saw a familiar figure standing next to the river. She smiled when she saw him. He looked different from the last time she saw him. He seemed… more reserved. Calmer. She slowly walked over to him, as he was staring out, lost in thought.

 “Hey… Bucky,” She said, not sure if he was ready for her to call him father yet. He turned and looked at her, smiling sadly.

“Hey, Rebecca…” He said softly.

“You look… better,” She said honestly. He gave her another half smile.

“I’m getting there,” he said.

“But not there yet… So you did not want us to know you were out.”

“I just…” He said sighing. “Needed more time before facing people.”

“We do not blame you, you know…” She told him.

“I know, but I still hurt people… hurt some of the people I care the most for. I’m just not ready to face them, just yet,” He explained.

“But you are willing to face me…” She asked him. He let out a small chuckle.

“Not really, but I didn't want to deny your request to see me either,” He told her.

“You promised we would give the whole family thing a shot,” She told him.

“Once I was whole... “ He said, looking out at the river. “And I feel everything but whole at the moment,” he said. She moved to sit on the river bank, looking out at the water. She could see why he liked it here. It was peaceful. He moved to sit by her.

“Steve was upset you only wanted to see me,” She admitted.

“He’ll get over it.” they sat in silence for a while, watching the water.

“So when did you change your hair?” He asked after a while, looking at Rebecca.

“Few days after you went into the ice. I was trying to blend in better,” She told him.

“I can understand that. I liked it better the other way.”

“So did Steve,” she said with a smile.

“You looked more like your mother but with it brown… I can finally see a little me in there,” He said with a smile. She let out a chuckle.

“I have your eyes,” She told him with a shake of her head.

“Yeah… you do...”

“Can you tell me about her… my mother…” She asked. “I mean… I remember her and all, but I just want to know what she was like… with you?” Bucky sighed at that, before looking out at the water.

“I’m not sure there is much to tell,” He said honestly. “But I can tell you that during the 50 years I was the Winter Soldier, my programming broke only twice. One time is when I was sent to kill Steve…. the other time, was with your mother,” He said. He took a moment to gather his thoughts.

“She was HYDRA and my handler. She had such a curious mind. Questioning everything in the world.  I don’t know if they were just using her, sending her in to see if she could break my programming, or maybe she just saw something in me. She intentionally broke down that programming… and melted my heart.” He said with a smile. “She became everything to me, so I started playing the part of the Winter Soldier, to protect us both.”

 “When we found out she was carrying you… I helped her escape. She didn’t want you to be raised by HYDRA and she was sure they would keep you. I got her out. I wanted to protect you both… from them… from me.” He said with a sigh.

 “I allowed them to find me… reprogramed me. I thought if they had me back, they leave you two alone. I was wrong. They sent me after you two, but she went underground. She knew how they worked, and she was smart. She hid. But somewhere deep inside me, despite all the programming, I don’t think I looked hard enough. I didn’t want to find you two… But I guess they eventually did,” He concluded.

 “I remember moving a lot…” Rebecca told him. “...like a lot, like every few months. When I was about seven, we stopped. Maybe she got tired of it. Maybe she thought we were finally safe for some reason. About a year later, they found us. She tried to fight them. They killed her and took me. I always wondered why, but I can see now. I was just another asset, just like you. I was your child, and I carried the serum in me. I was useful… worth looking for.”

“I’m sorry for that…” He told her.

“I am not,” She said honestly. “HYDRA sucked, do not get me wrong. They made me do some terrible things. Things that sometimes still haunt me but... “ She took a deep breath, looking at the water. “It led me to where I am now. It was hell… but they taught me how to fight. They gave me these powers. I hated them at first, hated it so much for what they made me do with them, but now it is a part of me,” she said turning to look at him.

“I like where I’m at. I have friends. I have a wonderful man who loves me. And I love him. I would not be here, where I am now if it was not for this past. I can not imagine my life any different,” She told him. He smiled at her, pulling her close to him, letting his arm wrap around her protectively.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

“He better be taking care of you or I’m going to beat his punk ass,” He told her. She busted out laughing.

“He is treating me just fine,” She said with a smile. They talked for a little bit longer, as they watched the sun start to set. Ayo interrupted them, telling them she was needed back in the city. Rebecca nodded.

“I guess I have to go…” She said softly. He nodded to her.

“Do me a favor,” He asked her.

“Sure,” She said.

 “I’ll let you both know when I’m ready. But until then, I need to be left alone,” he explained. She sighs at that. 

“So this is goodbye again.”

“How about so long for now,” he said.

“Ok… so long,” she said offering her hand for a shake. He took her hand before pulling her into a hug.

 “I love you, Becca…” He told her.

 “I love you too… dad,” She said with a smile. He let go of her before she followed Ayo back to the city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Last update for a little bit. Got a vacation coming up. Should post again in about a week or 2. have about 7 more chapters left!


	16. Green Eyed Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little jealousy leads to a wonderful surprise.

Rebecca was quickly taken back to the palace and she went quickly to her guest quarters, wanting nothing more than to sleep. She found Steve waiting for her, their stuff on the bed. He was sitting in a chair, reading. She smiled at his choice, another check off his list of reading. When he saw her, he put the book down, his attention on her.

“How did your talk go?” He asked.

“Went well… but he asked to be left alone until he is ready to see us,” she said as she came into the room, sitting on the couch, across from him.

“I wish I could tell him that I don’t blame him…”

“He knows.” She told him. Steve nodded before clearing his throat.

“I have some things I would like to discuss. I was talking to Natasha while you were gone… Have you been talking to Tony since Siberia?” Steve asked her. She sighed, leaning back on the couch.

“Corresponding.. yes,” She admitted. She knew this day would come.

“E-mailing?” He asked. She could hear the accusing tone.

“Yes, but I was careful, you know, making sure my signal was scrambled or hitting some wifi on the way out. I never said or did anything that could compromise us or give our position away.” She explained to him.

“What did you talk about?” He asked. She sat back up, looking at him a little confused. This wasn’t about safety like she thought.

“Ahhh, just information… tips… things like that,” She explained.

“What kind of tips?” He asked.

“The Chatari deal… About 3 months back. He gave me the info,“ She told him. Steve sighed.

“He’s your informant…” He breathed out. Rebecca nodded. “Show me…” Steve asked.

“The e-mails?” She asked. He nodded to her. She got up to get her tablet.

“I want to see all of them,” He told her. She looked at him for a second, seeing something new inside Steve. He wasn’t mad she was emailing, he was mad because it was Tony.

“If this is because of what happened in Siberia. I know he lost control…” She said as she came back to the couch, tablet in hand. She thought he had forgiven Tony. Knowing that Tony’s actions were in the heat of the moment. A bad call after learning about his parents' murder. Maybe she was wrong.

“This has nothing to do with Siberia,” Steve snapped. She looked at him. Really looked. Could that really be… Jealousy?

“Green is not a good color on you…” She told him before he sent her a glare. She knew this was not the time to mess with him.

She was thankful for the holographic projectors. She worked to pull up every email she had gotten since she escaped the raft from Tony. She wasn’t going to hide anything from Steve. When she was done she moved to display them all over the room. There were a couple dozen. She watched as Steve slowly stood, moving around the room, reading through the emails. There were tips given, the pleasantries exchanged, and the information shared. They updated each other on their lives and talked about what happened in Siberia. There were some emails were Tony bounced new tech ideas off her. Nothing was out of the ordinary, just two friends talking.

Rebecca was curious about what he was trying to find in them. Did he not trust her?

Steve came across the earliest one, dated the day after he broke her out of The Raft. He read the first line, curiously. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I said, and I’m sorry for what I did…”

“Yeah… we had a few heated exchanges… over the accords,” She told him.

“Did you write to him before this?” He asked. She nodded.

“That is everything, since Siberia. It is what you asked for...” she explained.

“I said I wanted to read all the emails, Rebecca. I meant everything… every email with Tony,” He said, a little anger in his tone.

“What are you looking for Steve? Whatever it is I will tell you….” She told him.

“I want to see them…” he demanded.

“Ahhh… You sure?” She asked him, not sure what to make of him right now. She was afraid seeing them might set him off given his current mood.

“Something you need to hide?” He accused. She felt her eyes flash anger, as she typed into her tablet for a moment before she brought up hundreds of emails, so much that it was hard to see them all on the display. Steve’s eyes got wide with that.

He started to go through them, see an invention Tony was trying to make for her, a dampening field that would work against her body, so she could touch people without using her powers on them. It was still failing but he was hopeful it would work.

He read where they were bouncing ideas off each other about upgrades on her suit.

There was several were they talked about life, about Steve, about being an Avenger. About how happy she was and how much she was learning, growing as a person. It was personal but still just friendly.

He moved to another where she had an idea for a new power based weapon for Natasha… The widow’s sting. Rebecca had invented it.

Steve knew she was smart, her use of technology was amazing, but this… this was showing him how incredibly brilliant she was. It was also showing him how she never showed it to him. This was a part of herself that she kept only for Tony.

He read another message about how Tony thought she could do better than the old captain. She responded, with humor, before telling him to lay off. It made Steve worry.

Then the correspondence changed again and it took him a moment to recognize that they were in another language.

“French?” He asked. She let out a laugh.

“I mentioned that I wished I was more fluent in French.... he refused to write or talk to me in English after that… I can translate them into English for you.”

“You learned French?” He asked her. She nodded.

“How did I not know that…” he wasn’t shocked that she learned another language. His own mastery of languages was enhanced since the serum and she’s lived with it all her life. He was surprised she had never told him about it.

“It never came up…” she said with a shrug.

“How did I not know about THIS,” he said pointing to all the emails.

“Look, Steve, I am a quick learner. You know that. I mastered combat training, weapons, several techniques, and form. I wanted to learn more about technology so, like the rest of it, I went to learn from the best you had to offer,” She told him pointing to the emails. “That was Tony.”

“But you kept it from me…” he told her, feeling the jealousy wash over him. She sighed, closing out the emails, before tossing the tablet aside to focus on Steve.

“Not on purpose. If you asked about it I would have told you…” She explained. “Whenever you asked I just told you I was emailing someone. You never asked who.”

“But that’s keeping it from me. That’s a lie of omission.” He told her as he began to pace the room.

“I was just emailing a friend…”

“You were emailing TONY!” He snapped.

“A friend, God! What is it with you two?! I know he has daddy issues with you knowing his father, but you? What is your problem with him?” She asked, getting up to pace the room as well.

“He's egotistical… pompous... “ He said, in anger.

“He is a genius… sometimes that comes with the territory. I spent most of my life with worse assholes than Tony Stark…” She admitted to him. He looked at her.

“You’re a genius yet your not like him.” He argued.

“I am no genius…” she said. He was taken aback by that, pointing to the tablet.

“Those emails beg to differ!” He said. “I always saw you messing with things… I had no clue you were inventing.”

“If you had asked I would have explained. I just figured you did not care…”

“I didn’t understand…” He said with a sigh. “Why are you even with me? “

“Excuse me?” She said, completely floored at the comment.

“You're smarter than me, that is obvious. Why not fall for someone more in your league… like Tony?” Steve said, sitting down on the bed.

“Ummm… because Pepper would have something to say about that…”

“That’s not the point… why not someone smarter than me?” He asked her. She smiled, sitting next to him.

“You are smart Steve… maybe not in the same way I am. We complement each other, ” She told him. She knew they were finally getting to the heart of the matter.

“I feel like, sometimes, you’re stuck with me. I’m not questioning your love for me. This connection has shown me you do, but the fact I’m the only person you can currently touch without hurting too much. The fact you’re on the run with me… I sometimes feel like your with me because you have no other options. No one else around. ” He told her. He felt her hit him upside his head. He looked at her shocked.

“Steven Grant Rogers,” She told him, anger in her body. She wanted to yell at him for being so stupid but instead, she just took her gloves off, putting her hands on his cheeks.

She could feel his confusion, his jealousy, his self-doubt, his fear. Fear that what he was telling her was true. Fearing that he wasn’t good enough for her. Fearing that he might lose her one day to someone else. She smiled sadly at him, leaning in to give him a kiss.

He could feel her anger, for questioning them, questioning her, but under that anger was her love for him.

‘Here let me show you….’ she told him before she thought of Tony. He felt her love for Tony, but it was different from the way she felt about Steve. It was affection, something that Steve felt for Wanda, or Natasha, but definitely not the way he felt about Rebecca. She admired Tony, for his genius, his banter, and his kindness. She shared a memory of Tony.

 

 

_She was sitting at her desk, tinkering with something, Tony on the computer screen, talking her through it for a moment._

_“Heard you might have a lead on Rumlow?” Tony asked her._

_“Something like that,” She said as she focused on her device._

_“How do you feel facing him again?” Tony asked._

_“That it is time for some payback,” She told him with a smile. Tony chuckled._

_“That’s my girl…” Tony said. “So how’s Cap been treating you?” He asked. She rolled her eyes. Here he goes again._

_“None of your business,” She told him, with a smile._

_“Can’t an old man worry about you, kid?” He told her. She stopped working on it, looking at the computer screen._

_“And what is there to worry about?”_

_“That you’re falling for a man not good enough for you?” Tony said. She smiled at him._

_“Too late for that,” She admitted. “He is not that bad Tony… I mean, you two are friends, you should know.”_

_“I do know him… that’s why I think you deserve better... “ He admitted to her. She rolled her eyes, shaking her head, going back to her tinkering._

_“Someone in your position should not be giving relationship advice. How is Pepper?” She asked._

_“Ouch… point taken…” He told her. She shook her head. At that, she heard a knock on the door._

_“Oh speaking of Cap…I got to go,” She told him._

_“Oooh Hot date! Don’t do anything I would do,” He joked to her._

_“Then I would not be having any fun, now would I?” She joked back before hearing him laugh. She closed the laptop. “Come in!” She called out. The affection she was feeling for her friend completely changed as she saw Steve enter her room. He could feel how much her heart swelled at just the sight of him._

 

 

‘Do not ever question my feelings, Steve…’ She told him, before taking her hands off his cheeks. “Ever again…” He nodded to her. “And I think I have one more nail in that coffin…” She told him. She got up, to pick up her tablet, before sitting back down next to him. She pulled up one last email, before handing it to him, letting him read it. As he read it, his eyes got wider.

“Tony… got you amnesty,” He gaped at the tablet.

“He did. I am not here because I have to be. I can leave whenever I want. I am here because I want to. I want to be here with you Steve. You are my home… not some building in New York,” She told him. Steve leaned in, kissing her softly. He pulled back, looking into her eyes, smiling at her.

“I’m sorry, I doubted you,” He told her.

“You were scared… scared people do stupid things…” She told him and he smiled at her.

“I guess they do. I have one last thing I would like to ask you then,” Steve said.

“Ok...” She said, not sure how much more she could take tonight.

“Knowing how close you two are… it really did scare me. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have doubted. I see that now. I’m just a scared old man when it comes to you sometimes.” He said taking a deep breath.

“I should not have kept it from you… I see that now…” She told him. He held up his hand, wanting her to stop talking.

“Let me finish...We don’t know what the future is going to bring us, but right now I can’t imagine my life without you in it. I don’t want to lose you. I can’t promise you much more than what I have to give. My heart… my love… and my vow that no matter what happens from now on, I want it to happen with you by my side.” he said before taking a breath. “Will you do me the honor, of becoming my wife, Becca?” Steve asked her. She looked at him, for a moment almost like she was unsure of what he asked her.

“You want to get married?” She said softly. He nodded looking a little nervous.

“Does this have to do with you being scared of losing me? I am not leaving...” She asked, not wanting that to be the reason he asked. He shook his head.

“No… I want to marry you because I love you and can’t see my life without you in it,” He told her. “This is not some whim either,” He admitted, reaching over to his bag, pulling a small pouch out. “I’ve been thinking about it for a few months now….” He said handing her the pouch. “It seemed like the right time…”

She opened the pouch, dumping the small, simple engagement ring into her hand. She looked at it for a moment, before handing it to Steve, noticing the disappointment in his eyes.

“Ask me again…” She told him. He smiled at her, slipping off the bed, kneeling before her.

“Rebecca Jones… Rebecca Barnes,” He corrected himself. “Will you marry me?” He asked.

“Yes.” She told him. “I will marry you.” He slipped the ring onto her finger before he pulled her to him, kissing her. She broke the kiss, smiling at him.

“When would you like to get married?” She asked.

“Whenever you want,” Steve told her.

“Soon… as soon as we can,” She said with a smile. “I mean, why wait? I love you Steve Rogers, and you are right, we don’t know what our future is going to bring us… let us do it,” she said before pulling him in and giving him a long, hard kiss. His hands slipped into her hair, deepening the kiss. She broke it after that.

“Not a chance, Mr. Rogers. I see where your mind is heading… we got plans to make,”

“Now?” He said, shocked.

“I do not want to waste a single moment… and weddings do not plan themselves,” She told him. He sighed dramatically before they started to make plans.


	17. Together Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No time like the present.

* * *

 

\---Two Months later--

* * *

 

Rebecca was sitting in the cockpit of the quinjet as she navigated it under Natasha’s watchful gaze.

“Do you think he is going to be mad?” Rebecca asked.

“Maybe just a little, but I think once he realizes why you did it… it might take a little of the sting out,” Natasha told her. Rebecca bit her lip.

“I guess there is no going back,” She said with a sigh. “Hopefully he will still want to marry me when he finds out,” She said, hand going to her heart, resting over the engagement ring that was resting on a chain around her neck.

“If you are that worried… go talk to him instead of hiding up here. We have a half an hour until we get there.” She sighed, nodding to Natasha. She handed over the controls to her friend before getting up to go to the back of the quinjet.

She sat down next to Steve who was looking a bit relaxed for once. She put a hand on his leg and he smiled at her.

“You ready?” She asked him, with a shy smile.

“To get married? Very much so,” He told her.

“And to get some much-needed downtime,” She said, knowing they were running themselves ragged for the past two months.

“Can’t believe you put all this together in two months...The place is perfect,” He told her. It was a tropical island, that had no good relationships with the accords or others who did. It was a hard find, but it was well worth the search.

“What if I told you I had help,” Rebecca told him.

“Help with the planning? I wouldn’t doubt that,” he told her.

“.... Outside help,” She explained. That got Steve a little on high alert.

“Who?” He asked.

“Before you get mad… he is helping me out as a friend and he is keeping everything…” She started to babble before Steve interrupted her.

“Stark!? Again!” He bit out.

“He helped with some of the parts I could not do without resources.”

“Like what?” Steve scoffed.

“Like making our wedding real… real and binding, just like you asked for,” She told him. Steve looked at her. She sighed. “Sometime next week, the paperwork for Steve Rogers and Rebecca Barnes wedding will be processed in the state of New York, officially and legally binding us man and wife. I could not have set that up from where I was. I needed help.”

“I didn’t need all that… just you and me in the eyes of God,” Steve told her. She smiled at that.

“That is going to happen too… but I wanted this as well. I know you wanted it too.“ she told him. He sighed.

“I guess the next time I see Tony… I’ll have to thank him.” She smiled.

“Good… you can do that in 30 minutes,” She told him, getting a shocked looked from Steve.

“He’s going to be there?” He asked.

“Yes, he is my… our friend Steve. Where else is he going to be?” She told him. He sighed at that, conflicting emotions on his face before he eventually nodded. She kissed his cheek.

“Thank you,” She told him.

 

* * *

 

They landed the quinjet, before disembarking. They saw Tony and Pepper waiting for them before Tony grabs Rebecca’s hand and dragging her off.

“Hey!” Steve said, not sure what was going on.

“Relax, Steve,” Pepper told him. “He’s just taking her to get her dress fitted. Lots to do before tomorrow,” Pepper said with a smile. “If you follow me, you have a fitting as well,” She said pointing to a cabin.

“The rest of you, there are clothes available if you want it, in that one,” She told them pointing.

“Tony really went all out…” Natasha said, looking at the secluded island paradise they found themselves in.

“You know how Tony gets…” Pepper said with a smile. “Steve if you’ll follow me,” Pepper said as Steve followed her, looking over to where Rebecca and Tony were walking.

 

* * *

 

 

Once Rebecca was sure they were out of earshot of Steve, she spoke.

“You could have at least said hi to him,” she told Tony.

“Hey, I promised I would help you and I would be civil. I didn’t say I would be talking to him….” Tony argued. Rebecca rolled her eyes as she allowed herself to be dragged. She looked around, seeing some locals, but not really seeing anyone else.

“Kind of deserted,” She noticed.

“Yeah.. offseason, and I kind of rented out the island…” He admitted.

“TONY!” She barked at him. “That is too much.”

“Hey. It's kind of my M.O.… would have looked more suspicious if I didn’t,” He argued as he pulled her into a cabin. In the middle of the room was a white dress on display.

“I got it as close as I could to your description…” He told her.

 

She looked at the dress. It was sliding off the shoulders, lace sleeves going down both arms. The dress was form fitting, before billowing out at the waist, going to a little below the knee in the front, the back of it sliding back, going down to the floor, flowing out into a small train. She could see a pair of matching gloves. She stared at it in awe.

“Tony… it… it is perfect…” She told him.

“Go try it on. I have a tailor that can make any adjustments if needed.” He told her. She smiled before taking the dress, moving into the bathroom to try it on. She came back out a few minutes later.

“Mind zipping me up?” Rebecca asked. He smiled, zipping up her dress. He looked her over.

“It looks perfect on you,” Tony admitted. “Still can’t believe you want to get married…” He said with a sigh.

“Me in general? Or the person I want to marry?” she asked curiously.

“Doesn't matter… You’ve made this choice, and I’m going to do everything in my power to make the next few days the best days of your life,” He admitted to her. “You deserve it.” She smiled at him before pulling him into a hug.

“Thank you,” She told him. He hugged her for a moment before he pulled back.

“Ok, that’s enough... “ Tony said. She smiled before going back to the bathroom, to get out of her wedding dress.

 

* * *

 

A few hours later they found themselves all on the beach, a party thrown in the happy couples honor. There was food, and drink galore. Rebecca sat next to Steve on the sand as they watch their friends let loose just a little, having fun, as they joked with each other. Steve smiled at that, knowing how much they needed this. He turned to look at Rebecca, as she watched them with sad eyes. He leaned in, whispering into her ear.

“You ok?” He asked. She nodded, giving him a half smile. “For a woman who is about to get married, you sure don’t look happy,” He explained to her.

“I am sorry. I just see all my friends… my family and all I can think of is we are missing someone…” She said sadly. Steve sighed. He felt that too.

“I wish he was here too… but he made his choice. He wants to be alone,” Steve explained. She nodded to him, kissing his cheek.

“I need some air,” she said, before getting up, getting everyone's attention.

“You want me to come with you?” Steve asked. She shook her head, walking off along the beach. Steve’s eyes flashed to Natasha’s and she nodded, trailing after Rebecca.

“That’s never a good sign…” Tony said.

“Can it, Stark, it's none of your business,” Steve said with a sigh. He suddenly got up, having lost the mood for the party. He walked to the cabin he was staying in tonight. He could tell someone was following him.

“Well since I’m paying for everything… I think it should be my business.” He heard Tony tell him.

“I didn’t ask you to…” Steve said as he turned around to face him. He could see everyone watching them from the party, but they were far enough away, people couldn’t hear them unless they yelled.

“Yeah but I am because she deserves it… after everything,” He explained to him. “The only thing I don’t think she deserves is you…” Tony said honestly. “You’re not good enough for her...“

“Not arguing with you on that one…” He could tell that wasn’t the answer that Tony was looking for.

“Not even willing to fight for her… no wonder she so sad around you…”

“She's sad because her father is not going to be here,” Steve said. He could see Tony’s eyes flash anger. “Oh, you forgot that Bucky’s her father, didn’t you? Ignoring that little fact, because you don’t want to ruin your friendship with her.”

“I don’t forget she’s his daughter but I’m not going to blame her for something that‘s beyond her control!” Tony yelled.

“Yeah, but you’ll blame Bucky for something he had no control over. If it was Rebecca who killed your mother. Under Hydra’s orders. Kill or be killed would you blame her…”

“She had no choice back then…”

“Neither did he!” Steve snapped.

“I know that!” Tony snapped back. “I know it wasn’t his fault. I don’t blame him anymore… but you know what? I still blame you!” Tony said, getting into Steve’s face.

“Me?”

“You knew… You knew my parents were murdered… for two fucking years,” Tony growled at him. Steve saw as Pepper came up to Tony.

“I think we’ve had enough fun for one night,” Pepper said.

“No… he’s right,” Steve told her. “I did know. I should have said something. I didn’t. You have every right to blame me…”

“See, this is why I don’t think you're good enough for her…” Tony said before walking away. Pepper gave him an apologetic look before going after him.

Steve just stood there for a moment, getting his breathing under control. He was thankful that Rebecca didn’t see them fighting. He walked back to the party.

“Sorry to spoil the mood…” He told Sam and Wanda. They both shrugged.

“It was bound to happen… just glad it wasn’t in front of your bride to be…” Sam told his friend.

“Me too… me too,” Steve said with a sigh.

 

* * *

 

Rebecca woke up alone in her cabin to a strange noise. She smiled, looking up at the dress that was still in the middle of the room that she was sleeping in. She heard the noise again, realizing it was someone knocking on her door. She got out of bed and went to open the door. She found Wanda, Natasha at the door with food.

“We are getting impatient, we decided to come help you get dressed so we can get this show on the road!” Natasha said. Rebecca just smiled. “No point in waiting around. Steve’s already getting ready, we just need to get your sleepy head in gear.” She shook her head, eating a little breakfast before she started to get ready for her wedding with her two best friends. Sometime later, they heard a knock on the door before Tony came in. He smiled at the beauty that was Rebecca. She was fully made out, ready to get married.

“You two skedaddle, let Pepper know she’s ready,” Tony said. Rebecca nodded to her friends before they left.

“You’re beautiful…” He told her.

“Thank you.”

“You know you don’t have to do this…” Tony argued.

“Trying to talk me out of it one last time…” She said with a smile.

“Can’t blame a guy for trying,” Tony said. She kissed his cheek.

“I know you care for me. I know you have your reasons to not like him… but for one day, just be happy for us.” Tony sighed.

“I’ll be happy…. for you,” He told her.

“I guess that is all I can ask for. You ready?” She asked.

“Yeah,” He said, locking arms with her. She looked at this curious.

“You going to give me away? To Steve?“ She said with an amusing smile.

“Yeah the things we do for friends,” he said rolling his eyes playfully. He opened the door peeking out. “Looks like they are ready,” He said before fully opening the door. She looked out. She saw there was a short walk back to the beach where a few rows of chairs lined an aisle. Steve stood at the end of it, in a dark suit, looking handsome. Her friends were sitting, waiting for her.

 

 

Tony and Rebecca started to walk to the beach. Steve noticed the movement and his breath was taken away as soon as he saw her. His eyes locked on Rebecca, smiles forming on both their lips as she got closer, eyes for each other. Tony reluctantly handed her over to Steve before Steve took her hand in his, eyes locking on to hers. They barely heard the minister speak, lost within each other. Rebecca didn’t think she could be any happier then she was at this moment, every ounce of joy she was feeling showing on her face. Steve couldn’t help but smile at her.

They promised each other forever and Steve knew that this was one promise he would do his damnedest to keep. Together, forever, until death do they part.

 

 


	18. Honeymoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Married and happy. Steve and Tony talk again.

Steve woke up feeling drained. His head was throbbing but the images of yesterday slipped into his mind, causing a smile on his lips. He opened his eyes to find himself alone in bed. He looked at his hand, seeing the slender gold band. It wasn’t a dream.

He lifted his head off the pillow, looking around the room to see Rebecca sitting curled up on the couch, reading something on her tablet. She was in a little sundress, her shoulders and arms exposed, which was unusual for her but not unwelcome. He could see the marks he left on her shoulder and neck, causing a wave of pride to wash over him. She was his… all his. Now and forever. Always.

“Good morning, Mrs. Rogers,” He told her. She looked up from the tablet, a smile on her face.

“Good morning, husband of mine.” She told him. He chuckled.

“I could get used to hearing that,” He told her as he got out of bed. He could feel the heat of her gaze on his still naked body. A smirk spread across his lips.

“Like what you see?” He teased her. She bit her bottom lip. She still had no clue what that did to him.

“Always,” she told him. He slowly slipped on a pair of shorts, loving the feeling of her eyes on him. He slipped a white t-shirt over his chest, sending her a smile as he walked over to sit next to her on the couch. She leaned in, whispering into his ear.

“You did not have to get dressed on my account….” She purred as a groan escaped his lips.

“If you don’t stop that, I’m going to take you back to that bed and have my way with you again…” Steve told her, kissing her neck, on one of the bruises she displayed for him. She blushed slightly.

“You need to eat…” She said, pointing to the coffee table, showing him the assortments of fruits and pastries that were sitting there.

“Nat made a delivery while you were asleep,” she explained. “She figured… we needed to keep our strength up. I guess she was not wrong...” She said, her blush deepening as he let out a groan of arousal.

“You are just adorable…” he told her, kissing her passionately. She moaned into the kiss feeling his lust for her grow. She wanted to so badly, to just give in to it. But she knew better. She backed off him a little bit, knowing his body couldn’t handle another round just yet.

“Give yourself a little more time… we have all day, my love,” She told him. He sighed, knowing she was right, but that knowledge didn’t help to calm the overwhelming want he had to claim her again. He kissed her shoulder one more time before he started to eat some of the food that was provided for them.

Rebecca heard as the rain started to pour on the cabin. She turned to look out the window as the water rippled down the window. It was a small tropical storm, the sun still shining causing the world outside to shine. It intrigued her.

“It is raining…” She said, looking out the window as Steve ate his breakfast.

“I can see that. Looks to be a quick storm. It should pass soon,” He said to her. She closed her eyes for a moment, just listening to the rain on the cabin. It was relaxing, and exhilarating all at the same time. She opened her eyes to see Steve watching her, curiously. She smiled at him before she jumped up, to Steve’s surprise and ran out of the cabin, right into the steady rainfall of the storm. She spun around, enjoying the feeling of the water on her skin, quickly drenching her.

"What are you doing!? You'll catch a cold!" She heard Steve say from the porch. She stopped spinning to look at him. He was leaning against the door frame, looking at her with a mixture of curiosity and amusement.

"Come dance with me..." She asked. He took a step onto the porch, with his head slightly cocked, trying to figure her out at the moment.

"There‘s no music..." He told her.

“Dance with me, husband,” She said holding out her hand. He shakes his head as he walked off the porch and into the rain. He walked up to her slowly, before taking her into his arms, one hand on her hip while the other rested in her hand. She entwined her fingers with his before she started to sway to the tune that was in her head, the music he was now hearing in his own.

‘That’s weird sometimes…’ He told her. She smiled, before resting her head on his chest, as they danced to the tune inside her head, letting the water soak them through. Steve could sense the love radiating off her, the love she was feeling for him. The love he was feeling for her. They held each other for what seemed like forever, not even noticing when the rain stopped. Steve took one misstep and he could feel the love and contentment she was feeling turned to concern.

“Hey, let us go swimming. I think I saw a swimsuit in all those clothes...” She said, pulling away from him quickly.

‘Was this how it was always going to be with them?’ he thought to himself, noticing the sadness in her eyes. ‘God, he hoped not…’

“Might as well, we are already wet,” He told her with a half smile. She smiled, the smile not quite reaching her eyes before she ran back into the cabin. Steve followed behind her watching as she pulled the two suits she had available for her.

“Which one?” She asked him. She showed him the one piece with a lattice pattern over her chest and a black bikini.

“Ahhh whatever you feel comfortable in…” he offered her, not liking either choice. She looked between them before she started to take her wet clothes off and put on the bikini as Steve watched her with a heated gaze, seeing more of the marks he left on her last night. He wanted nothing more than to take her back to the bed, never letting her leave again.

“How do I look?” She asked.

“Naked…” he told her with a slight growl in his voice. He didn’t like the idea of anyone seeing that much of his girl. She smiled shyly at him.

“Would you like me to put on the one piece?” She asked him, seeing his eyes rake over her body.

“If you're comfortable like that…” He offered her. “I’m just not used to you wearing so… little,” He admitted. He felt this part of her was just for him, but he wouldn’t make that choice for her either. It was her choice, it always had to be with her. She shrugged a little at his concern.

“I’ve never been in a place where I feel comfortable to wear so little. My friends know me… so they will give me the space I need. And I’ve never swum in the ocean before. I wanted to see how it feels against my skin,” She admitted. He took a shaky breath before a smirk spread across his lips.

“Then go out in whatever you want,” He told her. She came up to him, kissing him quickly. She looked into his heated eyes, knowing exactly what she was doing to him.

“Thank you…” she told him her voice soft and low, sending a shiver down Steve’s spine. She smiled at him, before she ran out of the cabin, heading straight for the ocean. Steve took a breath, hearing her laughter. He let out a low growl, knowing she was teasing him. He quickly chased after her. It was payback time. He quickly caught up with her and she screamed playfully when he grabbed her, bridal style before walking her to the water.

“Steve… you better not…” She warned him before he smiled, tossing her into the water. She splashed around a little before coming up out of the water, laughing. She splashed him and he splashed her back. She dived into the waves before she began to tread water, letting the waves wash over her, relaxing her.

Steve decided to sit on the beach, letting the waves wash over his feet as he watched her in the water with a smile. He watched as she explored this new environment, diving under, and swimming all around. It was refreshing to watch her as he took a breath, trying to brush aside the fatigue he was still feeling.

He could hear someone jogging down the coast, his peripheral seeing that it was Tony and Pepper. He decided to keep his eyes on his wife, hoping they would just jog by. He wasn’t in luck.

Tony plopped down beside him, catching his breath.

“How’s married life treating you?” Tony asked as Pepper sat next to him. Steve turned to look at the two. He could see they were as drenched as he was.

“Great. You two got caught in the rainstorm?” Steve asked, wanting to keep the conversation light.

“It was refreshing…” Pepper said with a smile.

“Tony!” They heard Rebecca say, waving at them. “Come for a swim!” She asked him. Tony shook his head.

“Nah, I’m good, you enjoy it,” Tony told her.

“She’s like a kid in a candy store,” Pepper remarked. Steve smiled.

“She’s never been in the ocean before…” he said with a shrug. “She’s enjoying herself.”

“And why aren’t you enjoying yourself with her?” Tony questioned. Steve shrugged again.

“I like watching her,” Steve said.

“Awww, I don’t think the old man can keep up with the youngling...” Tony teased. Steve’s eyes darken just a little. “But seriously, surprised you're conscious right now. She must have drained you pretty well last night, with how much energy she has. You’ve developed quite a resistance to her power… but it still takes a toll, doesn’t it?” Tony speculated. Steve looked at her, debating on telling the truth before he nodded.

“It can be… taxing,” He admitted. “And frustrating. Wanting to hold her, be near her, but having to keep my distance sometimes...”

“Yeah… I feel for you,” Tony said, his hand going to hold Peppers. “But you kind of knew what you were signing up for,” Tony said. Steve let out a scoff.

“I did, but it doesn’t change my feelings…”

“I can understand that. I was actually working on this device for her…” Tony started.

“The dampening field… yeah. Thought you couldn’t get it stable,” Steve told him. Tony looked a little surprised and then impressed with Steve’s knowledge.

“She told you about it. Yeah, still need to work out the kinks, but I figured, it could be a wedding present once it is finished,” Tony explained. Steve smiled. He could tell the man was trying to give him an olive branch. He looked back at her, knowing she must have had something to do with this.

“That would be nice…” He said.

“Steve!” they all heard Rebecca yell. “Come join me!” She called out sing-song. He chuckled before getting up. He looked at the two.

“Pepper… Tony… have a good day,” He said before he chased after his wife in the water.


	19. Time For a Little Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fun times ahead for our happy couple.

* * *

 

Mid-November 2017 (about 8 months later)

* * *

 

Steve had gotten a tip that the Bratva had gotten ahold of a Kree weapon. The Bratva had been studying it for a while before they were able to reverse engineer it. It had taken them a few weeks to get the information they needed to take Bratva down but everything was coming together.

Steve, Natasha, Rebecca, and Sam were approaching a heavily guarded warehouse, the only location where the weapons were being housed before distribution. They were lucky that they found the location in time, but still, they knew it was going to be a tough takedown.

They staked out the warehouse, knowing the element of surprise would be their best bet. The door to the front of the warehouse had a long alleyway, equipped with 3 guards. They noticed that there were two more guards on adjacent roofs, snipers, making a sneak attack through the front difficult. The back was fully secured, filled with more guards and security cameras.

“I guess we go in the front,” Steve said, looking at his team. “Natasha and Sam, take out the two on the roofs. Rebecca and I will figure out the three down here. We’ll attack simultaneously to keep the element of surprise,” Steve said. Natasha and Sam nodded before sneaking off, ready to get into position.

“Got any ideas?” Steve asked. She bit her lip.

“I have one… but I am not sure how well you will like it?” She told him. “I will distract them… take two out while you get the straggler.” She said, noticing the one who stood apart from the other two.

“And how do you plan on distracting them?” he asked. She smiled before unzipping her suit, until it was completely open, hanging open loosely, showing off her black bra.

“What the hell?” He whispered. She unsnapped her necklace, the one carrying her wedding ring, putting it in her pocket. She pulled down her hair, messing it up a little, making it flow out, framing her face.

“How do I look?” She asked.

“Indecent…” he growled.

“Good,” She said with a smile. “Those men are Bratva. They are used to getting their way. Being respected. A little Russian minx's trying to get herself a little alone time with them would peak their curiosity. And I do not think they would want to share. I go in, and get their attention on me… easy peasy,” She said.

Steve thought about it for a moment. There was no way either of them could sneak in without a distraction, guns and his shield would cause too much noise, he knew that.

“This is crazy… but I can’t think of anything else to do at the moment.” She smiled before kissing him quickly.

“I’ll be safe,” She told him, handing him her guns, but left the knife because it blended well enough in with the suit. She took a breath before starting to walk to the men.

“Go on my signal,” She heard Steve say over the coms as he watched Rebecca saunter down the alleyway. When one of the men saw her, he pulled a gun on her, before going to his walkie-talkie.

 _“I would not do that if I were you, sweetie?”_ She said in the most seductive Russian Steve had ever heard.

 _“Why is that?”_ He asked, looking her up and down. She smiled at him, biting her lip.

 _“Then we can not have any fun…”_ She told them, walking close, not scared of the gun at all. _“And that is not the gun I was hoping to see tonight…”_ She told them. The guy looked at his friends for a moment, before putting the gun down.

 _“Is that so?”_ He smiled at her.

 _“What are you doing here little girl?”_ The other man said with a smile.

 _“Finding out how real men_ are built _…”_ She told them as she leaned against a wall near them, but still a little bit away. She noticed all three pairs of eyes on her. She opened up her shirt a little more, exposing her bra cupped breast to them. _“Any takers?”_ She asked with a light moan. The three approached her, before one looked at the other, giving him a glare that told him to back off.

 _“Boys!”_ She said, getting all eyes back on her as Steve approached, staying in the shadows the best he could. _“There is plenty of me to go around…”_ She told them as they quickly approached her. She smiled, as she sees Steve get behind them, keeping mostly to the shadows.

“Now,” They hear him say before Rebecca grabs two of the men, quickly draining them, while Steve’s arm went around the throat of the man until he passed out. Rebecca zipped up her jacket, before quickly removing the weapons from the men.

“I’m torn between turned on and jealousy at the moment…” He told her. She smiled at him, leaning in to give him a quick kiss.

“You know I only have eyes for you, _my love_ ,” She told him.

 _“Nice distraction,”_ Natasha said over the coms.

“We are not encouraging this,” Steve said. Rebecca couldn’t help but smile.

It didn’t take long for Sam and Natasha to quickly join them before they moved into the warehouse, the element of surprise in their favor.

 

* * *

 

They were exhausted after the raid as they drove to were the quinjet was, nearly 2 hours away. They had been driving for an hour now, with no complications. Steve looked into the rearview, seeing Rebecca leaning against the window, asleep. She’d been extra tired lately and he was blaming himself, because of the constant jobs he was finding. He was trying to make himself useful but what was the cost. His wife was killing herself to keep up. He sighed. He knew it wasn’t the best idea, getting to the quinjet was safer, but he just couldn’t push them any further then he had. He quickly found a motel, before pulling into the parking lot.

“We are stopping for the night,” He told them. “It will give us a chance to shower and sleep in a bed for once.” He told them, getting strange but appreciative looks from the group.

“I’ll get us two rooms, hopefully, they have an adjoining suite,” Natasha said, unbuckling her belt.

“One room should suffice,” Steve argued. Natasha gave him a look.

“I think the newlyweds need a little more privacy than that,” She said with a smile leaving to get them the rooms. Steve looked into the back, seeing that only Sam was awake to hear the comment, but he ignored it, just happy to get some rest.

Natasha came back a few minutes later with two keys. “We are in luck!” She told him. Steve rolled his eyes. They drove around to the back, finding their rooms before unpacking the essentials. Once Steve was done, he turned to his wife, seeing her stretch, letting go of some of the kinks in her body. He let out a light growl at that. He was thankful for Natasha’s foresight. It had been nearly two months since they could be together and he wasn’t about to let the opportunity go to waste. He walked up to her, putting his hands on her hips, stilling her. She looked into his lust filled eyes. She knew what he was asking her for and she nodded showing him her willingness.

He quickly pulled off her shirt, as her hand went to unbuckle his pants. They knew they had to be quick about it. Steve couldn't afford to be taken out of commission that a long romp would cause, but that was just fine with them.

His lips crashed onto hers, as his hands went to pull down her pants, cupping her mound. She freed his quickly hardening member from his pants, hearing him moan out as she stroked him. She kicked off her shoes and shimmy her pants off before he pushed her against the wall. She smiled into the kiss, knowing what he wanted before she skillfully wrapped her legs around his hips, settling on him just right. She heard his groan, felt his need as he pushed back just slightly, positioning himself before plunging into her in one, fast thrust.

She threw her head back as he pushed inside her in just the right way, feeling his angle change just right to cause her to nearly scream out in pleasure as he relentlessly used her body for both of their pleasure. Her legs tighten around him so hard she knew he would carry bruises as her hands went to his back, grasping onto him, digging into the leather of the jacket he still wore.

His lips slipped down to her neck as he pushed into her harder and faster. When he bit down at her pulse point, she couldn't help but gasp out as the first wave of pleasure washed over her body. Steve moaned as he pushed past her orgasm, not stopping for one second as he chased his own pleasure. He bit down on her neck again, causing her second orgasm to explode around her as he quickly came, pushing deep inside her as he emptied himself. They stood there for a moment, just holding onto each other before she felt him slip out of her, as he lowered her down onto her weak knees.

“That was overdue,” He said with a pant.

“Long overdue,” She told him with a chuckle. They quickly got dressed, trying to cover up the evidence of their little tryst. He looked at his sleepy wife with a smile as she put her shirt back on. He kissed her head.

“Rest, I’ll go get some food for us. What are you in the mood for?” He asked her.

“Not sure… maybe something not fast food. I’m getting nauseous at the idea of another greasy meal,” She told him as she went to lay on the unused bed. He smiled.

“Sure thing, I’ll find something a little better for you,” He said before moving to the adjoining doors, knocking.

The door open and Natasha stood there, giving him a knowing look.

“Not a word,” He whispered to her, getting their food orders before leaving the group to themselves.

He wasn’t out the door for more than a few seconds when Rebecca heard the knock on her open door, and she looked over to see Natasha standing there, looking at her worried.

“You ok?” Natasha asked. Rebecca looked at her, with a small smile.

“Yes, why do you ask?” Rebecca said. Natasha sat on the bed next to her.

 _“You’re looking a little green?”_ Natasha told her in Russian. Rebecca looked at her a little confused. She never spoke to her in Russian unless she wanted to comfort her or keep something private.

 _“Just a little nauseous,”_ She replied, cautiously.

 _“You have been like that for the past few weeks,”_ Natasha commented.

 _“I am fine…”_ She argued.

 _“There was a drugstore two blocks away. I can walk you down there if you would like?”_ Natasha offered. Rebecca felt herself pale at that, knowing what she was implying.

 _“I am not…”_ She argued.

 _“When was your last period?”_ She asked. Rebecca blushed but thought about it for a moment. She sighed before grabbing her jacket and the key to the room.

“I am heading out for a bit,” She said loud enough so Sam could hear.

“Steve won't like that, he would want us all to stay together,” Sam argued.

“I’ll deal with him when I get back,” She said going to the door, hearing Natasha telling him to let her go as she left. She got to the street and looked around, noticing the store before she started to walk. She was in no hurry.

‘Maybe it was just stress…’ she thought to herself, before really thinking about it. ‘When was her last period?’ she thought as she pulled out her phone, she looked at the dates, really thinking about it. Nine weeks ago. She sighed. ‘It wasn’t like you two had been using anything to prevent this…’ she thought to herself.

She continued to go to the store absentmindedly, going in and quickly searching for what she came for. She looked at the choices before her, looking at the different types and labels. She read one saying it was more accurate for early detection. ‘Too late for that,’ she thought as she got one of the cheaper ones, going to the counter to check out. She stood there, nervously, twirling her wedding band around the chain on her neck, thankful the cashier made no comment. She threw some cash down, before taking the test she was handed. She left the store, stashing the test in her jacket as she looked around for a moment, deciding to go the other way, maybe a trip around the block would loosen the tightness in her stomach.

She walked for a while, thinking about what that box represented for her. If she was pregnant, her life was about to change. No more missions, no more fighting… no more partnering with Steve. It broke her heart to think about it. She wanted to be there for him.

But then the thought of Steve, being a father, holding that child, entered her head. She smiled at the thought of a little boy or girl playing with their father. It was more then she got. He would be there for their child, no matter what. She finally got the courage and headed back to the hotel.

She walked up to the door, pulling out the key to unlock it when it opened up, and Steve was looking down at her, glaring. He was mad. He pulled her into the room, noticing the adjoining door was closed.

“Where the hell were you?” He barked at her.

“Out… I needed to clear my head,” she told him.

“You know the rules, we stick together, we don’t go out, we keep a low profile. We hide,” He snapped at her, noticing that she wasn’t even wearing her hoodie.

“I was distracted,” She told him, softly.

“Distracted… distracted is what gets us killed, you know better than that!” He yelled. She felt her anger grow at his words, tears filling her eyes.

“It was important,” she snapped back.

“What was so damn important that you would risk all of our lives for a walk?” He snapped. She pulled the test out of her jacket, throwing it at him, hitting him square in the chest. He grabbed the test, looking at it confused for a second. He looked at her before the realization dawned on him. He let out a breath.

“If you had told me… I would have picked it up.”

“I did not think about it until you left… and I just… I do not know.”

“I’m sorry I yelled but the rules are there to keep us safe,” He told her.

“I know.. I just was… freaked out a little, ok?” She explained.

“Do you think this is why you’ve been tired? Why you haven’t been wanting to eat?” He asked. She nodded to him. His hand went to rub over his face, letting out a sigh. “Then let's find out,” He said as he opened the box, pulling out the instructions, reading them. She sighed, grabbing the foil package, opening it before going to the bathroom to take the test.

She placed it on the sink, watching it develop, as Steve came in behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle. She smiled at the subtle gesture. They both looked down as two little pink lines appeared on the test. She sighed as he kissed her cheek.

“You ok?” He asked her.

“I am not sure,” she said. “Still kind of processing it. You ok?” She asked him. He smiled at her.

“I think I am,” he said, leaning down lips brushing against her neck.

“Changes everything...” She admitted.

“It does,” He said, his breath on her neck. It sent a shiver down her spine.

“Steve, we can not… not again,” she argued, wanting nothing more than to let him take her to bed for the night.

“I know, doesn’t change the fact I still want you,” He told her before he left her in the bathroom, giving himself the space he needed not to do what he so desperately wanted to do to her. She picked up the little strip, looking at the positive result again before throwing it away.

She walked into the main room, seeing Steve laying on the bed.

“We can use the dampener, it’s kind of the reason Tony made it,” She asked. He smiled at her.

“You know I like to feel you when we…”

“Make love,” She said with a smile. “Should I sleep in the other bed?” she asked

“Only if you want me sleeping there too,” He told her, opening his arms to her. She moved in, settling into his arms, loving the feeling of them wrapped around her.

“When do you want to tell the others?” Steve asked.

“Natasha suspected… she’s the one who convinced me to go get the test,” She admitted before yawning. He kissed her cheek.

“Sleep, we can talk more about it in the morning.” He told her.

“Ok,” she said before snuggling into his warmth, quickly falling asleep in his arms.

 

* * *

 

They were both asleep when the door crashed in on the motel. Before she could even think, Steve was pulling her to the floor, his body covering hers as the guns went off in the room. She reached up without even thinking, to the nightstand, pulling down her Widow’s sting before aiming it at the door, right at the shadowed men, taking them both out quickly. The door opened to the adjoining room and Natasha, and Sam came in, guns in hands, ready to fight. The quickly left the motel, trying to take out any more hostiles. She looked at Steve then, seeing the blood.

“STEVE!” She screamed.

“I’m ok…. I’m ok.” He told her, pulling away from her slightly, his arm dripping blood from the grazed wound. He looked her over quickly.

“You ok?” He asked, making sure none of the bullets hit her.

“I’m fine, we need to stop the bleeding,” She told him, trying to stand up. He pulled her back down.

“Stay down until the others tell us it's clear,” Steve hissed at her. She sighed, grabbing the sheet they were still wrapped in and started to tear it, making a makeshift bandage.

“Clear…” They heard Natasha say. “We need to clear out now. In the car in 2 minutes,” Natasha said and they all nodded clearing out fast.

Natasha took the wheel since Steve was injured. Rebecca sat next to him in the back, as she carefully stitched up his arm as they silently drove back to the quinjet.

“You got in the way of a bullet for me…” she told him as she bandaged up the stitches.

“Not just for you…” He whispered, looking at her belly. She bit her lip at that.

“You’re going to be overprotective?” she asked, quietly, not wanting anyone else in the car to hear. He kissed her forehead.

‘I’ve always been protective of you. I just have added motivation now,’ he told her before his lips left her forehead. She looked at him for a moment.

“I’m a liability now…” She told him, hand on his wound.

“Hey, I would have done it, either way.” He said, going to her neck, pulling the chain out and holding onto the ring there. “You’re my wife. I never want to see you hurt,” He admitted.

She looked at him, tears starting to form in her eyes. She knew what he was saying. She knew what it meant for them, what it meant for her. He would always be putting his life in danger to save her. To protect her. To protect them. She felt one tear slip down her cheek and down her face as she felt her heart break at the realization.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” He asked her, pulling her closer, despite his injured arm.

“I want to go to Wakanda,” She told him.

“Ahhh yeah, Ok. We can go for a little bit,” He said. She shook her head against him.

“No, I want to stay in Wakanda, until... “ She said, her hand on her belly. “It’s safer. For me. For it For you,” She told him. She could see that he was unsure what to say to that. He licked his now dry lips.

“We can talk about it on the way…” He finally said to her. She nodded against him, as he held her.

 

* * *

 

Steve settled Rebecca on the quinjet, letting her sleep off the stress as the quinjet flew them off to Wakanda. Steve stood close by, watching her as she slept.

“You should rest as well,” Natasha told him, motioning to his arm. Steve just shook his head.

“Too much on my mind,” Steve admitted.

“So she is pregnant?” Natasha asked. Steve nodded, rubbing his hand over his face.

“She wants to stay in Wakanda until the baby is born…” Steve told her.

“Don’t blame her. Its safe, she’s got family there, friends,” Natasha said, looking at the conflicted look on Steve's face. “But, you won't be staying with her… will you?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t know.”

“Why not? Why not let yourself just… live,” She told him. “You can’t be the soldier forever,”

“I don’t know, Nat,” He said honestly.

“Think about it…” She told him as she left him to watch over his wife.


	20. The Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something spooks Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, we are starting to head into Infinity War territory with this story. This chapter hints at it. The next chapter will flat out spoils it. You have been warned.

Steve was sitting at a table in Wakanda, smiling as his friends talked around him. They had been here for about two weeks and he knew they needed this downtime, a time to recharge before heading back out. It seemed like the work was never done. A soon as they cleaned up one arm’s dealer, a Hydra base showed back up. It was never-ending. He looked his friends over, still not sure if he was planning on going back out with them. He wasn’t sure if he could leave here, not when she wasn’t coming with him, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling deep down in the pit of his stomach, something was coming. He could just feel it.

He felt a hand in his and he smiled. She was worth it, she was worth everything. Stay or go. He would do whatever he needed to do, for her.

“Steve,” He heard her say. He turned to look at her, before seeing nothing. He blinked looking around the now empty room, at the eerie silence. He felt his heart quicken as the panic set in. He felt that feeling in his stomach grows, knowing for some reason that this was his fault.

“Steve,” He heard, turning again to the voice still finding nothing. He shot out of his seat, running from the room. He had to find them, but all he found was emptiness.

“Rebecca?” He called out.

“Steve,” He heard again, turning, still finding himself alone. He was always alone.

“The soldier… A man out of time…” He heard Loki’s voice.

“You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality, you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind,” Red skull’s voice

“You can’t save them all….” Ultron told him.

“I lost everyone and so will you,” Zemo told him.

“We’ll lose,” Tony’s voice said.

“You will know what it’s like to really lose, soon enough…” an unfamiliar voice said.

Steve felt a hand on his shoulders shaking him, and his hand went out, wrapping his hand around his assailant's neck.

“Steve…” He heard a familiar voice choke out before he looked up into the terrified face of his wife. He relaxed his grip as she backed away from the bed, gasping for air. Steve sat up, shaking off the last bit of the dream. He looked over, seeing Rebecca still shaken before it hit him on what he just did.

“Becca… I’m … I’m sorry,” He said. She nodded to him, but kept her distance, not sure what to make of what just happened.

“Bad dreams?” She choked out her voice a little raw but still concerned. He closed his eyes. His heart broke a little. He licked his dry lips.

“Yeah,” He said getting up out of bed. She watched him slip his pants on before grabbing his shirt.

“Steve?” She asked. He felt a shiver go down his spine at her voice… so familiar.

“I need some air,” He said before leaving their room.

 

* * *

 

She watched him leave. ‘What the hell just happened?’ she thought to herself, her hands going to her neck, still feeling the ghost of his fingers wrapped around her neck. This was the first time she ever felt afraid in Steve’s presence and she didn’t like the feeling.

She went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror seeing the bruises forming on her neck. It shocked her a little. She knew it wasn’t his fault. Something in that dream had spooked him and he just reacted to it. She was not upset over the marks he left on her, if anything, she was more upset that he left without talking to her about it.

She left the bathroom before going to her clothes, pulling out a turtleneck she owned. She half smiled at it. She got it for whenever Steve got a little possessive on her neck. She still got teased a little when she wore it, but she would rather have people think that… then what really happened.

She put it on before she left her room with the intent of finding Steve. She started to walk down the hall when Natasha found her.

“What’s going on?” Natasha asked Rebecca. Rebecca looked at her confused. Natasha took her arm, dragging her back to her room. ‘What the hell just happened?’ She thought to herself as Natasha pushed her into her room.

“Did you two get into a fight?” She asked.

“Ahh… not really,” Rebecca said confused.

“Steve wants to leave, as soon as possible,” Natasha told her. She felt a chill wash over her before the heat began to rise, anger now.

“Bastard…” She growled out before storming out of the room.

‘Where are you?’ she sent to him. She got back silence.

“Becca?” She heard Natasha behind her.

“Where?!”

“Quinjet…” She told her and Rebecca was off. She made it down to where the quinjet was stored, finding it open. She stormed in.

“You are leaving?“ She asked. He stopped what he was doing, but didn’t look at her.

“It’s better this way…” He told her.

“Why?”

“I hurt you…” He said.

“Not talking to me is hurting me more. So you had a bad dream. You lashed out. So?”

“I could have killed you... “ Steve said.

“You did not.”

“I could have!” He snapped at her as he finally turned to look at her.

“So you are going to run away!” She snapped back at him.

“To protect you two… I would do just about anything.”

“What the fuck was in that dream?” Rebecca asked.

“The truth,” He told her.

“Steve talk to me, please…” She said nearly in tears.

“That wasn’t the first time I had that dream... just the first time I hurt you. I can’t do that again,” He said tears in his eyes. “I think it’s telling me something,” He explained.

“What is that?”

“Something is coming… something… big.” He told her. She sighed.

“So you want to go back out there. Put some wrongs, right,” She concluded. She gave him a half smile. “Always the good soldier,” She told him. She saw him stiffen, turning away from her again. “Fine, be that way…” She said before she turned to leave the quinjet.

She walked into Shuri’s lab, finding the girl deep in her research.

“I need to see my father.”

“He still doesn’t want to see…” She started before looking at Rebecca, seeing the tears. Shuri nodded. “I’ll get ahold of him.”

“Please… do not give him a chance to say no.” She told her friend. Shuri walked up to her, before giving her a hug.

“Sure.”

 

* * *

 

“Sergeant Barnes,” Shuri called out as Bucky was working. He looked up with a smile before it slipped from his face, seeing Rebecca there. He licked his lips before he let out a deep sigh. His hair was a little longer and unkempt, and he was now sporting a beard, smiling as it reminded her of Steve’s.

 

“She talked me into it,” Shuri explained. Rebecca started to walk to him.

“I am sorry. I know you wanted me to leave you alone,” She said as a tear slipped down. “But I need you…” Rebecca said. Bucky’s coldness evaporated at her tears. He pulled her to him, wrapping his arm around her as she cried into his chest. Bucky nodded to Shuri and she left as he tried to calm down the crying mess Rebecca was in. He moved her to sit down on the cart he was working on.

“What happened?” He asked, worried.

“Steve,” She choked out. Bucky paled at that, fearing the worst. “Is a jerk…” She said. Bucky let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“He can be a punk sometimes,” Bucky said. She let out a light chuckle, finally letting him go. “What happened?” He asked. She took a breath.

“He’s running away from me,” she said. “He had this dream, not sure what it was about, he won't talk to me about it. But I tried to wake him up… and he hurt me on accident,” She told him. “He did not even know he was doing it until it happened. I think he is just scared,” she said.

“Maybe he just needs time,” Bucky offered. “He loves you… and he hurt you. I know that feeling.” She looked at him, giving him a sad smile.

“He does not want to face it. What he did,” She concluded, knowing it wasn’t just Steve she was talking about. “But he is going to have to. He can not hide forever.” Bucky sighed.

“You’re not talking about Steve anymore.”

“Maybe I am talking about both of you.” Bucky smiled.

“Yeah, I guess maybe it is time I stop hiding. I could give that punk a word or two about making you cry.” She let out a light laugh.

“You do that…” She told him. They both stood up and started to walk were Shuri was waiting for them. She smiled at them. That was when she noticed the quinjet. She looked in shock as it went airborne, before making a quick escape from Wakanda. Rebecca felt a tear slip down her cheek.

“Wow… he really is running away,” Bucky said. “What did he do that scared him so much?” Bucky asked worriedly. He never knew Steve to run away from a fight… ever. Whatever this was, it must have completely shaken his friend to the core.

“Does not matter now…” She said with a defeated look in her eyes.

“It does matter, I mean, I can’t believe he would leave you,” Bucky said.

“I was not planning on leaving here, It just looked like he was going to stay with me…” Rebecca explained.

“Why were you planning on staying here?” He asked curiously. She blushed at that.

“Well… ummm. I did not want to risk… getting hurt,” She mumbled, a hand on her stomach.

“You’re pregnant?” He asked. She nodded. “He left you here alone, and pregnant?” Bucky couldn’t even hide his anger.

“She’s not alone,” Shuri said with a smile. Rebecca smiled at her.

“Can you, get ahold of him?” She asked, nodding to Shuri’s beads.

“You sure?” She asked. Rebecca nodded. Shuri established a connection with the quinjet, handing her the beads. She walked away for some privacy.

“Hey Nat,” She said, seeing her friend on the other end.

“Hey, you. I tried to stop him.” Natasha admitted. She shook her head.

“It’s ok. Can I talk to him?”

“Sure thing,” she said. There was silence for a little bit before she saw Steve’s face projected.

“Hey,” He said, sadly.

“Hey. Just tell me you are coming back,” She said sadly.

“Of course, I just need...”

“Time… I get that. Just know, no matter what, I love you, Steve Rogers,” She told him. “Never doubt that.”

“I love you too, Becca.”

“You are being a coward, you know that?” She shook her head. “But I will give you your time.”

“Thank you,” He told her.

“Take care of yourself. Come back to us.”

“You know I will.”

“Bucky’s going to kick your ass though, for knocking me up and leaving me here,” She warned him. He sighed.

“You told him?”

“He figured it out. Might have been all the crying…”

“I’m sorry, I should have talked to you.”

“I know, and I should not have left you there.”

“I’ll see you soon I swear,” he told, her she nodded. “I love you, Rebecca Rogers.”

“I love you too,” She said before she saw the communication end. She turned and saw both Shuri and Bucky behind her. “So much for privacy…”

“I heard my name… and Rogers? When did that happen?” He asked.

“You said you wanted to be left alone,” She told him. Bucky sighed.

“I guess I did. So the punk made an honest woman out of you? Was that before he… knocked you up?” Bucky asked.

“We have been married for eight months now.”

“Before…” He said as a small smile appeared on his lips. “Good for you two,” he said honestly, pulling her into another hug.

 

* * *

 

A few hours later, Rebecca made it back to her room. She sighed. It seemed bigger now… lonelier. She sat down on the couch, seeing one of the books Steve had been reading sitting on the table. She picked it up, flipping through it a little before putting it back down. She heard a beep then, a notification sound. Her curiosity got the better of her as she got up and got her tablet. She opened it, looking at the notification, a new message she received. A message from Steve. She opened it up, seeing a video attached with the words. “I’m sorry for hurting you.” She took a breath before she watched the video.

“Hello Becca,” Steve said through the screen. She smiled despite the fact he couldn’t see her. “I asked Nat to set me up… I just. I just wanted you to know why I left.” He said before sighing, looking away from the camera. “These dreams… They always start out different, yet the same. I'm there, surrounded by my friends and family. You. I’m happy. The happiest I’ve ever been in my life.” he stopped, taking a shuddering breath. “Then it's gone. Everyone… everything and I’m alone again. No one's there but the voices in my head. The voices of all my enemies telling me I don’t belong… I can’t save anyone… that I’ll lose… everything.” she felt the tears prick her eyes as she watched a tear slip down his cheek when he looked back at the camera.

“When I woke up and realized I hurt you. That I could have killed you…” He told her as another tear slipped down his cheek. “I know it’s stupid. Leaving you there, when my greatest fear is being alone,” He said wiping his tears. “I just… I couldn’t face it. I love you so much, but I can’t risk hurting you again. This isn’t a goodbye, not by a long shot. I just need some time to get my head on straight. Maybe I’m running away. First time in my life I think I’ve ever done this, but something… is telling me this is what I need to do,” he said before clearing his throat.

“Looks like this will give you some time to get to know your father...” He said with a half smile. “I’m glad you went to him. I hope you get to know him how I knew him,” He said before letting out another breath.

“Take care of yourself. I’ll be thinking about you and our little one. I love you. And I’ll see you soon,” He told her before the message clicked off. She wiped the tears she knew were going down her cheek before she messed with the tablet, setting it up to record a message back to him.

“You’re being a fucking idiot Steve Rogers, but I understand it. Thank you for letting me know.” She said with a smile.

“Take all the time you need…But do not shut me out. Let me know your safe and I will be fine. I love you, and take care of yourself. Come back to us,” She told him before she shut the message off, sending it to him.

 


	21. Not bad, for the end of the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Rebecca are reunited... for the end of the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to write more between these two chapter but I just wasn’t coming to me. Maybe a one-shot later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

5 months later

* * *

 

 

The quinjet landed in Wakanda, as everyone started to disembark. It had been nearly two months since he had been here.

“You nervous?” Natasha asked Steve.

“About the end of the world?” He asked her. She smiled at him.

“About seeing your wife again?” she told him. He smiled.

“No, just wish it was under better circumstances,” He said as they walked down the now open ramp, before walking up to T’Challa and his guards.

“Seems like I’m always thanking you for something,” Steve said to T’Challa, shaking his hand. Bruce started to bow.

“We don’t do that here,” T’Challa said to Bruce. He gave Rhodey a dirty look.

“How big of an assault should we be expecting?” T’Challa asked.

“Ah sir, sir, I think quite a big assault,” Bruce told him.

“How are we looking?” Steve asked.

“You will have my Kingsguard. The Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje. And…” T’Challa told them as he looked over to Bucky.

“A semi-stable 100-year old man,” Bucky said, as he walked up to Steve. Bucky and Steve hugged.

“How have you been, Buck?” Steve asked.

“Not bad, for the end of the world,” Bucky said. That was when Steve noticed Rebecca. A smiled went wide across his face. She was standing there, in a long dress, a huge bump in her belly. He quickly pulled her into his arms for a second before both of his hands went to touch her belly.

“How’s our little prince?” He asked, leaning down, kissing her belly.

“He’s doing well,” She told him with a laugh.

“Let's go save the world… for him.” He told her as they walked into the building, one arm around her shoulder, and his other hand on her belly. He wasn’t sure how things were going to play out and he wanted to be as close as he could be to her while he could.

 

* * *

 

They watched as Shuri examined Vision, telling them she could remove the mind stone, with time. Suddenly alarms were going off. Okoye went to her kimoyo beads, showing a holographic display of the Earth.

“Something has entered the atmosphere,” Okoye said as they watched it.

They all watched from the window as the ship hit the dome, before destroying itself. Another two more landed just outside the city. They all knew a fight was in their future. That was when Vision got off the table.

“It's too late, we need to destroy the stone now,” Vision said.

“Vision, get your ass back on the table,” Natasha told him.

“We will hold them off,” T’challa told the whole room. Steve turned to Wanda.

“Wanda, as soon as that stone’s out of his head, you blow it to hell,” Steve told her.

“I will,” Wanda told him before T’Challa started to bark orders.

“Evacuate the city. Engage our defense and get this man a shield.” Steve turned, nodded to T’Challa. He went up to Rebecca, pulling her into his arms.

“I just got here. I wanted some time with you before everything…” Steve admitted.

“Go save the world Steve, and come back to us,” Rebecca told him.

“I will. Keep yourselves safe,” He said, giving her a quick kiss before leaving her with Shuri, Wanda, and Vision.

 

* * *

 

She watched the fight from the window as Shuri worked to get the mind stone out of Vision’s head. Her eyes couldn't leave the battle as the Outriders attacked, hitting the barricade. She watched as they attacked, so brutal before the shield was opened and they were let in. She watched knowing there was nothing she could do, praying to anything that would listen that Steve would make it out ok, her hand going to her stomach.

“You need him little one... “ she said, feeling a tear slip down her face at the carnage below her. She heard, then saw the forest start to collapse as Wanda came to stand next to her as they watched the giant wheels of death come up from under the barrier, now in play on the battlefield.

“Oh god…” Rebecca said.

“I need to help them…” Wanda said, looking at the carnage.

“I’ll let you know when Shuri is done, take care of yourself,” Rebecca told her. Wanda turned to her as well, hand going to her belly.

“Keep you and that little one safe,” She said, as she left to join the battle. Rebecca watched as Wanda used her powers on the field, quickly turning the tide. She smiled, seeing hope, maybe everything would be ok now. That is when she heard the scream of the guard that was protecting the as Corvus Glaive killed them. She watched as several more guards went at him. She didn’t even hesitate, pulling a gun off the table, starting to shoot at him, not fazing him one bit as he advanced, hand going out across her cheek, sending her flying across the room, hitting the wall with a sickening thud, as her world quickly went to black.

 

* * *

 

Steve woke up after being knocked out by Thanos. He was aching all over but he knew, he had to get up, the world was depending on them. He stumbled over to where he saw Thor, and the look on his face wasn’t very hopeful.

“Where did he go?” Steve asked before looking around. “Thor where did he go?” He asked again, seeing the devastating look on his friends face.

“Steve….” He heard Bucky say, turning to look at his friend, just in time to watch him fade away into dust. He walked over to where Bucky used to be, kneeling down. He looked over at Thor and knew. He knew. He touched the ground where the remains of Bucky lay, hearing the chaos form all around them. He got up and walked around, before finding Visions body, the mind stone missing. He heard Natasha come up to him, knowing Banner and Thor were there as well. He fell to the ground, exhausted, still not processing it all.

“What is this? What the hell is happening?” He heard Rhodey say.

“Oh god…” Steve breathed out. ‘We lost,” he thought. Thanos won, they lost. Half the world was gone. No half the universe was just… gone. They where the universe’s last hope and they failed them and now all those people… gone. He lost his friends and Bucky… He took in a sharp breath then.

“Rebecca…” he breathed out.


	22. Happily Ever After?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What does the future hold for Steve.

Steve stumbled to his feet. “Rebecca,” he said a little louder.

“Hey, whatever happened, panic will not change it,” Natasha said, helping him up.

“I have to know, Nat, I have to,” He breathed out. She nodded. She tapped the coms, getting nothing more than panic on the line, no one really making sense.

“Rebecca?” Thor asked after a moment.

“Steve’s... wife,” Natasha explained. “Let’s take one of the vehicles, and head back,” she told him, getting a nod. They walked out of the forest, finding Okoye still mourning over the loss of her King. They walked back into the battlefield, seeing the warriors there, and the look of utter defeat on their faces, knowing that it was all for not.

Steve was numb as he climbed into the vehicle, not sure how to process all of it. He could hear Natasha explaining why they needed to rush back to Okoye and he heard Okoye’s understanding before she quickly piloted them back to the palace. He could hear as they talked about who they lost, who was gone. Who he couldn’t save...

Steve started to pray as they made their way back. He had just lost so much, so many people, he couldn’t lose another. He couldn't lose her. He couldn’t lose their child. As the vehicle approached and began to slow, something snapped in Steve and he just jumped from the slowing vehicle, before starting at a full run, knowing he needed to find her. He knew where he left her but knew that the place had been attacked. That it hadn’t been safe. Why didn’t he make sure she was safe?

He ran as fast as he could, leaving everyone behind because he needed to know. He made it quickly to the lifts, pushing past people who were already there, not caring, moving past all the distort people and the carnage around them. He had to know.

He quickly made it to the right floor, coming out, heading to the lab, stepping over the dead bodies and ran in to find… nothing. The room was destroyed, the window shattered. His wife was not here and his stomach dropped.

“Rebecca!? Shuri!?” He screamed, leaving the room, seeing if there was anyone around if there was anyone who knew where they might be. He found one person, coming out of a room and he grabbed them, scaring them.

“Shuri?” He asked. The person pointed to one of the rooms and he nodded to them before heading that way. He busted into the room, startling the people inside, but he didn’t care as relief washed over him, seeing her laying on a table, curled in on herself.

“Becca,” he breathed out. He saw her move to look at him. She had bruises on her face, looking at him with pain in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” He asked. It was Shuri who explained.

“We were attacked. We tried to hold him off. She attacked him with her weapon but he knocked her out. The shock to her body sent her into early labor. We were trying to stabilize her when half my staff disappeared,” Shuri explained. When Rebecca let out a cry of pain, Steve moved her side, taking her hand in his.

“Steve, you look like hell,” She said with a half smile, tears in her eyes.

“You’re not looking too hot yourself,” he said, petting her hair, kissing her forehead.

“I’m glad you survived,” She said before gasping in pain again.

“Same,” he said, holding her hand close to his chest as she squeezed it.

“Natasha... “ She said softly. Steve looked over his shoulder seeing Thor, Rhodey, Natasha, and Bruce behind them.

“Hey, little one…” Natasha said, petting her hair. Steve watched as Rhodey, Thor, and Bruce left, giving them space. Steve turned to watch as a woman gave Rebecca a few injections before she settled a little from the pain.

“What was that?” He asked.

“Something for the pain and some meds to hopefully stop her labor. It’s still early, the best outcome would be for us to try and keep your little one right where he is, if possible. But if we can’t stop it, he’ll still be in good hands.” The doctor told Steve. He nodded. Once the pain receded and the labor slowed, Rebecca had a moment to think clearly.

“Who’s gone?” She asked Steve.

“Shhh let's not worry about that right now. Let just, focus on getting through this. You need to stay calm,” He told her. She looked at him, seeing something in his eyes.

“Where is Bucky? Why is he not here? He should be here,” She said, getting upset.

“Rebecca. Please. Stop,” He said, feeling tears in his eyes, “Don’t do this to yourself…”

“No…” She said, feeling tears slip from her eyes. “God, please no…”

“Becca, please you need to calm down. Breathe, you need to for our little boy,” He told her, trying to hold back his own tears. She curled in on herself, feeling the tears overflow. She felt as Steve and Natasha, wrapped their arms around her, lending as much comfort as they could. It didn’t take her long until she fell asleep. Natasha urged Steve to get his wounds from the battle checked out but he refused to leave Rebecca’s side. Natasha nodded to him before she slipped away.

“If you collapse under the weight of it all, then you’re not going to be there for her. For them,” Shuri told him, as she got an instrument out, to help clean and close any wounds that Steve had, starting to treat him.

“Half the world. No half the universe is gone, and I couldn’t stop it,” Steve told her.

“You’re just one man,” She argued.

“I’ve lost most of the people that I hold dear to me today,” he said.

“You haven’t lost all of them. You haven’t lost her. You need to be there for them. Besides, you’re not the only one who lost people today,” she said. He looked at her.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” he told her.

“And I’m sorry for yours,” Shuri said. “Go, get some sleep,” she said as she stitched up the last of his wounds. “I’ll watch your girl, and call you back if anything changes,” She offered him.

“Or when she wakes up…” He asked.

“That too. Rest, you need it.” He nodded before starting to walk to the door.

“Steve…” He heard her say, fear in her voice. It brought him back to when her father uttered the same word. He quickly turned, seeing the fear in her face as she grabbed onto her stomach. He came back to her.

“What’s wrong?” He asked her as the others gathered.

“It hurts again,” He nodded to her, taking in her hand. He watched as they scanned her, looking over her.

“Her labor isn’t stopping. The medicine is having little effect. It’s just stalling it.”

“Her metabolism?” Steve offered.

“We took that into account, but it’s still not working,” Shuri said. Steve looked at Rebecca, with a sad smile.

“I guess our little one wants to come see us,” he told her.

“I guess so,” she said, letting out a gasp of pain.

“Let's move her to somewhere a little more private,” Shuri suggested. Steve nodded, before pulling her into his arms, to Shuri’s surprise. “I could have gotten her a wheelchair…” She said with a smile before she escorted them to one of the rooms in the back. Steve laid her down and when he moved away from her, she grabbed his hand.

“Don’t leave me…”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Steve said before letting go of her hand, getting a chair to sit next to her. He felt her relax when she held his hand again. He watched as they scanned her, showing them their baby as Shuri examined her.

“Didn’t know you were experienced in delivering babies?” Steve questioned.

“Not much too it. Anyway her doctor kind of… disappeared so I figured she would want someone she trusted more than a stranger with experience,” Shuri explained. “He looks to be in a good position. Besides a little early I don’t see any complications,” Shuri said before turning off the scanner. Steve nodded to her, leaning down to kiss Becca’s forehead.

“It’s not going to be long until our little boy is going to meet us,” Steve said to her. Rebecca nodded back, breathing out when another contraction hit her. Steve looked at Shuri. “You can’t do anything for the pain, can you? ” Shuri gave him a sad smile.

“No…” Shuri said sympathetically. Steve nodded.

“I figured, but it couldn’t hurt to ask,” Steve said, knowing it was going to be a long night.

 

* * *

 

 

A few hours later, Steve was thanking the lord for the super serum in his veins. He was pretty sure his hand would have been broken if not for it. Despite the pain he was feeling, he knew it was nothing compared to what Rebecca was feeling, so he made no complaint, just holding her, talking her through her quick labor. He knew that soon enough, they would have a little something that was worth all the pain she was feeling. He could tell she was getting closer, as a nurse came in to assist Shuri, a few extra doctors, as well as an incubator, was wheeled in. He knew why they brought it in, but he was hoping they wouldn’t have to use it. Everything had to go right… he couldn’t afford to lose anyone else today.

Steve moved in, kissing Rebecca’s sweaty forehead, as she worked through another contraction.

“You’re doing good Becca… almost there,” Steve encouraged her as she squeezed his hand again. She nodded to him when the pain subsided for just a moment. He could tell she was getting worried, as they watched over her progress. He needed to distract her.

“Have you come up with any more names?” He asked her. “Or are we sticking with Joseph?” He asked. “I’m still partial to George…” Steve told her. She started to breathe heavy again at that.

“Breathe. You got this…” He said, helping her work through the pain before Shuri asked her to push. It was time. A few contractions later, Rebecca was pushing out their little boy, to silence. Steve couldn’t look, burying his face into Rebecca’s shoulder, not wanting to know. He wouldn’t be able to handle it if his son didn’t survive.

He could hear the doctors do what they could, feeling Rebecca's arms wrap around him before they both heard a small, tiny, croak of a cry, barely audible, even to their hearing. Steve let out a breath, one he didn’t even know he was holding, before he looked up, looking at the baby that the doctors were working on. He was small but most definitely a fighter, just like his parents.

“He’s so tiny…” Steve said, amazed.

“4 pounds, 4 ounces… bigger than expected,” Someone said out to him, before the boy let out a louder cry, showing his parents that he wasn’t giving up on them. He heard Rebecca let out a sob, and he held her as she cried.

“Shhh. He’s ok. He’s with us. He’s feisty, just like his mother.”

“Stubborn, just like his father,” Rebecca said with an exhausted sigh.

“He’ll be fine,” Steve told her, watching over as they cleaned and dressed him. They gave him oxygen, through a nasal cannula, but besides that, he was breathing on his own, better than what anyone would have predicted. Shuri came up to them, with the little baby wrapped in a blanket.

“We are going to put him in the incubator and keep him close for observation as a precaution. But besides having a little false start there I think he’s perfect,” She told them. “Just a little small…”

“Just like his daddy was,” Steve said.

“Would you like to hold him before we take him?” Shuri asked. They both nodded. Steve took him, looking so small in his big arms. He looked nervous like he was afraid he was going to break him. He could feel the tears slip over his cheeks at the sight of his son.

“He is. Perfect,” He said. He watched Rebecca sit up for a moment before he handed him to Rebecca. She smiled, holding the little bundle.

“Perfect... “ Rebecca said, tears in her own eyes. “James...” She said, looking up at Steve. “I want to name him James,” She said as the tears started to flow, looking at the baby, with the little tuft of brown hair, and the most beautiful blue eyes. Steve felt more tears slip down his face at that before he nodded.

“James it is,” He told her.

"James. Rogers.” Rebecca said, holding James to her.

 

* * *

 

A few days later, Rebecca was sitting in a bed, holding her tiny baby boy to her, settling him down after feeding him. Despite his early start, and small weight, he was perfect. Shuri had suspected it had something to do with his parents. But it didn’t matter to her, as long as her baby was healthy.

She smiled at her son. Her James, and felt another tear slip from her eyes. They had lost so much, despite what they gained. The world was fractured, broken almost beyond repair. But despite that, they still had some much to look forward too.

She looked up when she heard her husband come in. She could tell he had been crying. It broke her heart. She knew he held himself responsible for it all, for all the pain and loss in the world. He carried the world on his shoulders, and nothing anyone could say to him made it any better.

He smiled at her, letting himself take a small comfort in his family's presence, and she smiled back to him, happy that they could give him that. She held one of her arms out holding their son with the other, as he came in, letting her comfort him. He held them close to him, not wanting to let go, holding on almost desperately.

She was worried about him. Worried for what the future held for them. Worried about what all this loss was doing to him. Worried what he would do, to make it right. Worried about how much more he could carry on those shoulders, before the weight of the world would eventually break him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all I'm going to write for now. Maybe more but for now this is going to be finished for me.


End file.
